By  a  Negro  Pioneer 


LIBRARY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


The  Conquest 

The  Story  of  a  Negro  Pioneer 


BY  THE  PIONEER 


1913 

THE  WOODRUFF  PRESS 
Lincoln,  Nebr. 


LIBRARY 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1913, 

by  the  Woodruff  Bank  Note  Co.,  in  the  office  of  the 

Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


First  Edition,  May  1,  1913 


To  the 
HONORABLE  BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON 


INTRODUCTORY 

This  is  a  true  story  of  a  negro  who  was  dis 
contented  and  the  circumstances  that  were  [the 
outcome  of  that  discontent.  -:-  -:-  -:- 


INDEX  TO  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Frontispiece  PAGE 

Became  number  one  in  the  opening 56 

Everybody  for  miles  around  had  journeyed  thither  to 

celebrate 113 

Made  a  declaration  that  he  would  build  a  town  ....   128 

Although  the  valley  could  not  be  surpassed  in  the  pro 
duction  of  grain  and  alfalfa,  the  highlands  on 
either  side  were  great  mountains  of  sand  .  .  .  .133 

On   the  east  the  murky  waters  of  the  Missouri  seek 

their  level 140 

The  real  farmer  was  fast  replacing  the  homesteader      .    .  145 

Everything  grew  so  rank,  thick  and  green 160 

Had  put  280  acres  under  cultivation 177 

Bringing  stock,  household  goods  and  plenty  of  money  .    .  192 

Were  engaged  in  ranching  and  owned   great  herds  in 

Tipp  county 209 

As  the  people  were  all  now  riding  in  autos 241 

A  beautiful  townsite  where  trees  stood 251 

Ernest  Nicholson  takes  a  hand 256 

The  crops  began  to  wither 289 

The  cold  days  and  long  nights  passed  slowly  by,  and  I 

cared  for  the  stock  .  .   304 


LIST  OF  CHAPTERS  PAGE 

I  Discontent — Spirit  of  the  Pioneer     ....       9 

II    Leaving  Home — A  Maiden 18 

III  Chicago,  Chasing  a  Will-O-The-Wisp    ...     24 

IV  The  P —        — n  Company 34 

V    "Go  West  Young  Man" 48 

VI    "And  Where  is  Oristown?" 54 

VII  Oristown,  the  "Little  Crow"  Reservation      .     61 

VIII  Far  Down  the  Pacific— The  Proposal    ...     67 

IX    The  Return — Ernest  Nicholson 72 

X    The  Oklahoma  Grafter 74 

XI    Dealin'  in  Mules 79 

XII    The  Homesteaders 86 

XIII  Imaginations  Run  Amuck 91 

XIV  The  Surveyors 94 

XV  "Which  Town  Will  the  R.  R.  Strike?"     .     .  104 

XVI    Megory's  Day 108 

XVII    Ernest  Nicholson's  Return 117 

XVIII  Comes  Stanley,  the  Chief  Engineer       .     .     .123 

XIX    In  the  Valley  of  the  Keya  Paha 126 

XX    The  Outlaw's  Last  Stand 132 

XXI    The  Boom     . 134 

XXII    The  President's  Proclamation 140 

XXIII  Where  the  Negro  Fails 142 

XXIV  And  the  Crowds  Did  Come— The  Prairie  Fire    148 
XXV    The  Scotch  Girl 153 

XXVI    The  Battle 164 

XXVII    The  Sacrifice— Race  Loyalty 168 

XXVIII    The  Breeds 175 

XXIX    In  the  Valley  of  the  Dog  Ear 182 

XXX  Ernest  Nicholson  Takes  a  Hand       .     .     .     .186 

XXXI    The  McCralines 193 

XXXII    A  Long  Night 201 

XXXIII  The  Survival  of  the  Fittest 208 

XXXIV  East  of  State  Street 216 

XXXV    An  Uncrowned  King 233 

XXXVI    A  Snake  in  the  Grass 241 

XXXVII  The  Progressives  and  the  Reactionaries    .     .  251 

XXXVIII    Sanctimonious  Hypocrisy 265 

XXXIX    Beginning  of  the  End 273 

XL    The  Mennonites 280 

XLI    The  Drouth 284 

XLII    A  Year  of  Coincidences 294 

XLIII  "And  Satan  Came  Also"    .                             .  297 


The  Conquest 

CHAPTER  I 

DISCONTENT— SPIRIT  OF  THE  PIONEER 

OOD  gracious,  has  it  been  that  long? 
It  does  not  seem  possible;  but  it  was 
this  very  day  nine  years  ago  when  a 
fellow  handed  me  this  little  what- 
would-you-call-it,  Ingalls  called  it  "Opportunity." 
I've  a  notion  to  burn  it,  but  I  won't — not  this  time, 
instead,  I'll  put  it  down  here  and  you  may  call  it 
what  you  like. 

Master  of  human  destinies  am  I. 

Fame,  love,  and  fortune  on  my  footsteps  wait. 

Cities  and  fields  I  walk.     I  penetrate 

Deserts  and  seas  remote,  and  passing  by 

Hovel,  and  mart,  and  palace — soon  or  late 

I  knock  unbidden  once  at  every  gate. 

If  sleeping,  wake — if  feasting,  rise  before 

I  turn  away.     It  is  the  hour  of  fate, 

And  they  who  follow  me  reach  every  state 

Mortals  desire,  and  conquer  every  foe 

Save  death;  but  those  who  doubt  or  hesitate, 

Condemned  to  failure,  penury,  and  woe 

Seek  me  in  vain  and  uselessly  implore, 

I  answer  not,  and  I  return  no  more. 

Yes,  it  was  that  little  poem  that  led  me  to  this 
land  and  sometimes  I  wonder  well,  I  just  wonder* 

9 


10  TheConquest 

that's  all.  Again,  I  think  it  would  be  somewhat 
different  if  it  wasn't  for  the  wind.  It  blows  and 
blows  until  it  makes  me  feel  lonesome  and  so  far 
away  from  that  little  place  and  the  country  in 
southern  Illinois. 

I  was  born  twenty-nine  years  ago  near  the  Ohio 
River,  about  forty  miles  above  Cairo,  the  fourth  son 
and  fifth  child  of  a  family  of  thirteen,  by  the  name 
of  Devereaux — which,  of  course,  is  not  my  name 
but  we  will  call  it  that  for  this  sketch.  It  is  a 
peculiar  name  that  ends  with  an  "eaux,"  however, 
and  is  considered  an  odd  name  for  a  colored  man  to 
have,  unless  he  is  from  Louisiana  where  the  French 
crossed  with  the  Indians  and  slaves,  causing  many 
Louisiana  negroes  to  have  the  French  names  and 
many  speak  the  French  language  also.  My  father, 
however,  came  from  Kentucky  and  inherited  the 
name  from  his  father  who  was  sold  off  into  Texas 
during  the  slavery  period  and  is  said  to  be  living 
there  today. 

He  was  a  farmer  and  owned  eighty  acres  of  land 
and  was,  therefore,  considered  fairly  "well-to-do," 
that  is,  for  a  colored  man.  The  county  in  which 
we  lived  bordered  on  the  river  some  twenty  miles, 
and  took  its  name  from  an  old  fort  that  used  to  do 
a  little  cannonading  for  the  Federal  forces  back  in 
the  Civil  War. 

The  farming  in  this  section  was  hindered  by  vari 
ous  disadvantages  and  at  best  was  slow,  hard  work. 
Along  the  valleys  of  the  numerous  creeks  and  bay 
ous  that  empty  their  waters  into  the  Ohio,  the  soil 
was  of  a  rich  alluvium,  where  in  the  early  Spring 
the  back  waters  from  the  Ohio  covered  thousands 


The    Conquest  11 

of  acres  of  farm  and  timber  lands,  and  in  receding 
left  the  land  plastered  with  a  coat  of  river  sand  and 
clay  which  greatly  added  to  the  soil's  productivity. 
One  who  owned  a  farm  on  these  bottoms  was  con 
sidered  quite  fortunate.  Here  the  corn  stalks  grew 
like  saplings,  with  ears  dangling  one  and  two  to  a 
stalk,  and  as  sound  and  heavy  as  green  blocks  of 
wood. 

The  heavy  rains  washed  the  loam  from  the  hills 
and  deposited  it  on  these  bottoms.  Years  ago, 
when  the  rolling  lands  were  cleared,  and  before  the 
excessive  rainfall  had  washed  away  the  loose  sur 
face,  the  highlands  were  considered  most  valuable 
for  agricultural  purposes,  equally  as  valuable  as 
the  bottoms  now  are.  Farther  back  from  the 
river  the  more  rolling  the  land  became,  until  some 
sixteen  miles  away  it  was  known  as  the  hills,  and 
here,  long  before  I  was  born,  the  land  had  been 
very  valuable.  Large  barns  and  fine  stately  houses 
—now  gone  to  wreck  and  deserted — stood  behind 
beautiful  groves  of  chestnut,  locust  and  stately  old 
oaks,  where  rabbits,  quail  and  wood-peckers  made 
their  homes,  and  sometimes  a  raccoon  or  opposum 
founded  its  den  during  the  cold,  bleak  winter  days. 
The  orchards,  formerly  the  pride  of  their  owners, 
now  dropped  their  neglected  fruit  which  rotted  and 
mulched  with  the  leaves.  The  fields,  where  formerly 
had  grown  great  crops  of  wheat,  corn,  oats,  timothy 
and  clover,  were  now  grown  over  and  enmeshed 
in  a  tangled  mass  of  weeds  and  dew-berry  vines; 
while  along  the  branches  and  where  the  old  rail 
fences  had  stood,  black-berry  vines  had  grown  up, 
twisting  their  thorny  stems  and  forming  a  veritable 


12  The    Conquest 

hedge  fence.  These  places  I  promised  mother  to 
avoid  as  I  begged  her  to  allow  me  to  follow  the  big 
boys  and  carry  their  game  when  they  went  hunting. 

In  the  neighborhood  and  throughout  the  country 
there  had  at  one  time  been  many  colored  farmers, 
or  ex-slaves,  who  had  settled  there  after  the  war. 
Many  of  them  having  built  up  nice  homes  and 
cleared  the  valley  of  tough-rooted  hickory,  gum, 
pecan  and  water-oak  trees,  and  the  highlands  of  the 
black,  white,  red  or  post  oak,  sassafras  and  dog 
wood.  They  later  grubbed  the  stumps  and  hauled 
the  rocks  into  the  roads,  or  dammed  treacherous 
little  streams  that  were  continually  breaking  out 
and  threatening  the  land  with  more  ditches.  But 
as  time  wore  on  and  the  older  generation  died,  the 
younger  were  attracted  to  the  towns  and  cities 
in  quest  of  occupations  that  were  more  suitable  to 
their  increasing  desires  for  society  and  good  times. 
Leaving  the  farms  to  care  for  themselves  until  the 
inevitable  German  immigrant  came  along  and 
bought  them  up  at  his  own  price,  tilled  the  land, 
improved  the  farm  and  roads,  straightened  out  the 
streams  by  digging  canals,  and  grew  prosperous. 

As  for  me,  I  was  called  the  lazy  member  of  the 
family;  a  shirker  who  complained  that  it  was  too 
cold  to  work  in  the  winter,  and  too  warm  in  the 
summer.  About  the  only  thing  for  which  I  was 
given  credit  was  in  learning  readily.  I  always 
received  good  grades  in  my  studies,  but  was  con 
tinually  criticised  for  talking  too  much  and  being 
too  inquisitive.  We  finally  moved  into  the  nearby 
town  of  M — pis.  Not  so  much  to  get  off  the  farm, 
or  to  be  near  more  colored  people  (as  most  of  the 


TheConquest  13 

younger  negro  farmers  did)  as  to  give  the  children 
better  educational  facilities. 

The  local  colored  school  was  held  in  an  old  build 
ing  made  of  plain  boards  standing  straight  up  and 
down  with  batten  on  the  cracks.  It  was  inadequate 
in  many  respects;  the  teachers  very  often  ineffi 
cient,  and  besides,  it  was  far  from  home.  After 
my  oldest  sister  graduated  she  went  away  to  teach, 
and  about  the  same  time  my  oldest  brother  quit 
school  and  went  to  a  near-by  town  and  became  a 
table  waiter,  much  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  my 
mother,  who  always  declared  emphatically  that  she 
wanted  none  of  her  sons  to  become  lackeys. 

When  the  Spanish-American  War  broke  out 
the  two  brothers  above  me  enlisted  with  a  company 
of  other  patriotic  young  fellows  and  were  taken  to 
Springfield  to  go  into  camp.  At  Springfield  their 
company  was  disbanded  and  those  of  the  company 
that  wished  to  go  on  were  accepted  into  other 
companies,  and  those  that  desired  to  go  home  were 
permitted  to  do  so.  The  younger  of  the  two  broth 
ers  returned  home  by  freight;  the  other  joined  a 
Chicago  company  and  was  sent  to  Santiago  and  later 
to  San  Luis  DeCuba,  where  he  died  with  typhoid 
pneumonia. 

M — pis  was  an  old  town  with  a  few  factories, 
two  flour  mills,  two  or  three  saw  mills,  box  factories 
and  another  concern  where  veneering  was  peeled 
from  wood  blocks  softened  with  steam.  The  timber 
came  from  up  the  Tennessee  River,  which  emptied 
into  the  Ohio  a  few  miles  up  the  river.  There  was 
also  the  market  house,  such  as  are  to  be  seen  in 
towns  of  the  Southern  states — and  parts  of  the 


14  TheConquest 

Northern.  This  market  house,  or  place,  as  it  is 
often  called,  was  an  open  building,  except  one  end 
enclosed  by  a  meat-market,  and  was  about  forty 
by  one  hundred  feet  with  benches  on  either  side 
and  one  through  the  center  for  the  convenience  of 
those  who  walked,  carrying  their  produce  in  a 
home-made  basket.  Those  in  vehicles  backed 
to  a  line  guarded  by  the  city  marshall,  forming  an 
alleyway  the  width  of  the  market  house  for  perhaps 
half  a  block,  depending  on  how  many  farmers  were 
on  hand.  There  was  always  a  rush  to  get  nearest 
the  market  house;  a  case  of  the  early  bird  getting 
the  worm.  The  towns  people  who  came  to  buy, 
women  mostly  with  baskets,  would  file  leisurely 
between  the  rows  of  vehicles,  hacks  and  spring 
wagons  of  various  descriptions,  looking  here  and 
there  at  the  vegetables  displayed. 

We  moved  back  to  the  country  after  a  time  where 
my  father  complained  of  my  poor  service  in  the 
field  and  in  disgust  I  was  sent  off  to  do  the  market 
ing — which  pleased  me,  for  it  was  not  only  easy 
but  gave  me  a  chance  to  meet  and  talk  with  many 
people — and  I  always  sold  the  goods  and  engaged 
more  for  the  afternoon  delivery.  This  was  my  first 
experience  in  real  business  and  from  that  time  ever 
afterward  I  could  always  do  better  business  for 
myself  than  for  anyone  else.  I  was  not  given  much 
credit  for  my  ability  to  sell,  however,  until  my 
brother,  who  complained  that  I  was  given  all  the 
easy  work  while  he  had  to  labor  and  do  all  the  heav 
ier  farm  work,  was  sent  to  do  the  marketing.  He 
was  not  a  salesman  and  lacked  the  aggressiveness 
to  approach  people  with  a  basket,  and  never  talked 


TheConquest  15 

much;  was  timid  and  when  spoken  to  or  approached 
plainly  showed  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  met  and  became  acquainted 
with  people  quite  readily.  I  soon  noticed  that 
many  people  enjoy  being  flattered,  and  how  pleased 
even  the  prosperous  men's  wives  would  seem  if 
bowed  to  with  a  pleasant  "Good  Morning,  Mrs. 
Quante,  nice  morning  and  would  you  care  to  look 
at  some  fresh  roasting  ears — ten  cents  a  dozen; 
or  some  nice  ripe  strawberries,  two  boxes  for  fifteen 
cents?"  "Yes  Maam,  Thank  you!  and  0, 
Mrs.  Quante,  would  you  care  for  some  radishes, 
cucumbers  or  lettuce  for  tomorrow?  I  could  de 
liver  late  this  afternoon,  you  see,  for  maybe  you 
haven't  the  time  to  come  to  market  every  day." 
From  this  association  I  soon  learned  to  give  to 
each  and  every  prospective  customer  a  different 
greeting  or  suggestion,  which  usually  brought  a 
smile  and  a  nod  of  appreciation  as  well  as  a  purchase. 

Before  the  debts  swamped  my  father,  and  while 
my  brothers  were  still  at  home,  our  truck  gardening, 
the  small  herd  of  milkers  and  the  chickens  paid  as 
well  as  the  farm  itself.  About  this  time  father 
fell  heir  to  a  part  of  the  estate  of  a  brother  which 
came  as  a  great  relief  to  his  ever  increasing  burden 
of  debt. 

While  this  seeming  relief  to  father  was  on  I  be 
came  very  anxious  to  get  away.  In  fact  I  didn't 
like  M — pis  nor  its  surroundings.  It  was  a  river 
town  and  gradually  losing  its  usefulness  by  the 
invasion  of  railroads  up  and  down  the  river; 
besides,  the  colored  people  were  in  the  most  part 
wretchedly  poor,  ignorant  and  envious.  They  were 


16  TheConquest 

set  in  the  ways  of  their  localisms,  and  it  was  quite 
useless  to  talk  to  them  of  anything  that  would 
better  oneself.  The  social  life  centered  in  the  two 
churches  where  praying,  singing  and  shouting  on 
Sundays,  to  back-biting,  stealing,  fighting  and  get 
ting  drunk  during  the  week  was  common  among 
the  men.  They  remained  members  in  good  stand 
ing  at  the  churches,  however,  as  long  as  they  paid 
their  dues,  contributed  to  the  numerous  rallies,  or 
helped  along  in  camp  meetings  and  festivals. 
Others  were  regularly  turned  out,  mostly  for  not 
paying  their  dues,  only  to  warm  up  at  the  next 
revival  on  the  mourners  bench  and  come  through 
converted  and  be  again  accepted  into  the  church 
and,  for  awhile  at  least,  live  a  near-righteous  life. 
There  were  many  good  Christians  in  the  church, 
however,  who  were  patient  with  all  this  conduct, 
while  there  were  and  still  are  those  who  will  not 
sanction  such  carrying-on  by  staying  in  a  church 
that  permits  of  such  shamming  and  hypocrisy. 
These  latter  often  left  the  church  and  were  then 
branded  either  as  infidels  or  human  devils  who  had 
forsaken  the  house  of  God  and  were  condemned 
to  eternal  damnation. 

My  mother  was  a  shouting  Methodist  and  many 
times  we  children  would  slip  quietly  out  of  the 
church  when  she  began  to  get  happy.  The  old 
and  less  religious  men  hauled  slop  to  feed  a  few 
pigs,  cut  cord- wood  at  fifty  cents  per  cord,  and 
did  any  odd  jobs,  or  kept  steady  ones  when  such 
could  be  found.  The  women  took  in  washing, 
cooked  for  the  white  folks,  and  fed  the  preachers. 
When  we  lived  in  the  country  we  fed  so  many  of 


The    Conquest  17 

the  Elders,  with  their  long  tailed  coats  and  assuming 
and  authoritative  airs,  that  I  grew  to  almost  dislike 
the  sight  of  a  colored  man  in  a  Prince  Albert  coat 
and  clerical  vest.  At  sixteen  I  was  fairly  disgusted 
with  it  all  and  took  no  pains  to  keep  my  disgust 
concealed. 

This  didn't  have  the  effect  of  burdening  me  with 
many  friends  in  M — pis  and  I  was  regarded  by  many 
of  the  boys  and  girls,  who  led  in  the  whirlpool  of 
the  local  colored  society,  as  being  of  the  "too-slow- 
to-catch-cold"  variety,  and  by  some  of  the  Elders 
as  being  worldly,  a  free  thinker,  and  a  dangerous 
associate  for  young  Christian  folks.  Another  thing 
that  added  to  my  unpopularity,  perhaps,  was  my 
persistent  declarations  that  there  were  not  enough 
competent  colored  people  to  grasp  the  many  op 
portunities  that  presented  themselves,  and  that 
if  white  people  could  possess  such  nice  homes, 
wealth  and  luxuries,  so  in  time,  could  the  colored 
people.  "You're  a  fool",  I  would  be  told,  and  then 
would  follow  a  lecture  describing  the  time-worn 
long  and  cruel  slavery,  and  after  the  emancipation, 
the  prejudice  and  hatred  of  the  white  race,  whose 
chief  object  was  to  prevent  the  progress  and  better 
ment  of  the  negro.  This  excuse  for  the  negro's 
lack  of  ambition  was  constantly  dinned  into  my 
ears  from  the  Kagle  corner  loafer  to  the  minister 
in  the  pulpit,  and  I  became  so  tired  of  it  all  that  I 
declared  that  if  I  could  ever  leave  M — pis  I  would 
never  return.  More,  I  would  disprove  such  a 
theory  and  in  the  following  chapters  I  hope  to  show 
that  what  I  believed  fourteen  years  ago  was  true, 


18  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  II 

LEAVING  HOME— A  MAIDEN 

| WAS  seventeen  when  I  at  last  left  M — pis. 
I  accepted  a  rough  job  at  a  dollar  and 
a  quarter  a  day  in  a  car  manufacturing 
concern  in  a  town  of  eight  thousand 
population,  about  eight  hundred  being  colored. 
I  was  unable  to  save  very  much,  for  work  was  dull 
that  summer,  and  I  was  only  averaging  about 
four  days'  work  a  week.  Besides,  I  had  an  attack 
of  malaria  at  intervals  for  a  period  of  two  months, 
but  by  going  to  work  at  five  o'clock  A.  M.  when  I 
was  well  I  could  get  in  two  extra  hours,  making 
a  dollar-fifty.  The  concern  employed  about  twelve 
hundred  men  and  paid  their  wages  every  two  weeks, 
holding  back  one  week's  pay.  I  came  there  in 
June  and  it  was  some  time  in  September  that  I 
drew  my  fullest  pay  envelope  which  contained  six 
teen  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 

About  this  time  a  "fire  eating"  colored  evangelist, 
who  apparently  possessed  great  converting  powers 
and  unusual  eloquence,  came  to  town.  These 
qualities,  however,  usually  became  very  uninterest 
ing  toward  the  end  of  a  stay.  He  had  been  to 
M — pis  the  year  before  I  left  and  at  that  place  his 
popularity  greatly  diminished  before  he  left.  The 
greater  part  of  the  colored  people  in  this  town  were 
of  the  emotional  kind  and  to  these  he  was  as  at 
tractive  as  he  had  been  at  M — pis  in  the  beginning. 
Coincident  with  the  commencement  of  Rev. 
Mclntyre's  soul  stirring  sermons  a  big  revival 


TheConquest  19 

was  inaugurated,  and  although  the  little  church 
was  filled  nightly  to  its  capacity,  the  aisles  were 
kept  clear  in  order  to  give  those  that  were  "steeping 
in  Hell's  fire"  (as  the  evangelist  characterized  those 
who  were  not  members  of  some  church)  an  open 
road  to  enter  into  the  field  of  the  righteous;  also 
to  give  the  mourners  sufficient  room  in  which  to 
exhaust  their  emotions  when  the  spirit  struck 
them— and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  they  were  used. 
At  times  they  virtually  converted  the  entire  floor 
into  an  active  gymnasium,  regardless  of  the  rights 
of  other  persons  or  of  the  chairs  they  occupied. 
I  had  seen  and  heard  people  shout  at  long  intervals 
in  church,  but  here,  after  a  few  soul  stirring  sermons, 
they  began  to  run  outside  where  there  was  more 
room  to  give  vent  to  the  hallucination  and  this 
wandering  of  the  mind.  It  could  be  called  nothing 
else,  for  after  the  first  few  sermons  the  evangelist 
would  hardly  be  started  before  some  mourner  would 
begin  to  "come  through."  This  revival  warmed 
up  to  such  proportions  that  preaching  and  shouting 
began  in  the  afternoon  instead  of  evening.  Men 
working  in  the  yards  of  the  foundry  two  block  away 
could  hear  the  shouting  above  the  roaring  furnaces 
and  the  deafening  noise  of  machinery  of  a  great 
car  manufacturing  concern.  The  church  stood  on 
a  corner  where  two  streets,  or  avenues,  intersected 
and  for  a  block  in  either  direction  the  influence  of 
fanaticism  became  so  intense  that  the  converts 
began  running  about  like  wild  creatures,  tearing 
their  hair  and  uttering  prayers  and  supplications 
in  discordant  tones. 
At  the  evening  services  the  sisters  would  gather 


20  The    Conquest 

around  a  mourner  that  showed  signs  of  weakening 
and  sing  and  babble  until  he  or  she  became  so  be 
fuddled  they  would  jump  up,  throw  their  arms  wildly 
int6  the  air,  kick,  strike,  then  cry  out  like  a  dying 
soul,  fall  limp  and  exhausted  into  the  many  arms 
outstretched  to  catch  them.  This  was  always 
conclusive  evidence  of  a  contrite  heart  and  a  thor 
oughly  penitent  soul.  Far  into  the  night  this  per 
formance  would  continue,  and  when  the  mourners' 
bench  became  empty  the  audience  would  be  searched 
for  sinners.  I  would  sit  through  it  all  quite  un 
emotional,  and  nightly  I  would  be  approached  with 
"aren't  you  ready?"  To  which  I  would  make  no 
answer.  I  noticed  that  several  boys,  who  were 
not  in  good  standing  with  the  parents  of  girls  they 
wished  to  court,  found  the  mourners'  bench  a 
convenient  vehicle  to  the  homes  of  these  girls — all 
of  whom  belonged  to  church.  Girls  over  eighteen 
who  did  not  belong  were  subjects  of  much  gossip 
and  abuse. 

A  report,  in  some  inconceivable  manner,  soon 
became  spread  that  Oscar  Devereaux  had  said 
that  he  wanted  to  die  and  go  to  hell.  Such  a 
sensation!  I  was  approached  on  all  sides  by  men 
and  women,  regardless  of  the  time  of  day  or  night, 
by  the  young  men  who  gloried  in  their  conversion 
and  who  urged  me  to  "get  right"  with  Jesus  before 
it  was  too  late.  I  do  not  remember  how  long 
these  meetings  lasted  but  they  suddenly  came  to 
an  end  when  notice  was  served  on  the  church  trustees 
by  the  city  council,  which  irreverently  declared 
that  so  many  converts  every  afternoon  and  night 
was  disturbing  the  white  neighborhood's  rest  as 


The    Conquest  21 

well  as  their  nerves.  It  ordered  windows  and  doors 
to  be  kept  closed  during  services,  and  as  the  church 
was  small  it  was  impossible  to  house  the  congre 
gation  and  all  the  converts,  so  the  revival  ended 
and  the  community  was  restored  to  normal  and 
calm  once  more  prevailed. 

That  was  in  September.  One  Sunday  afternoon 
in  October,  as  I  was  walking  along  the  railroad 
track,  I  chanced  to  overhear  voices  coming  from 
under  a  water  tank,  where  a  space  of  some  eight  or 
ten  feet  enclosed  by  four  huge  timbers  made  a 
small,  secluded  place.  I  stopped,  listened  and  was 
sure  I  recognized  the  voices  of  Douglas  Brock,  his 
brother  Melvin,  and  two  other  well  known  colored 
boys.  Douglas  was  betting  a  quarter  with  one  of 
the  other  boys  that  he  couldn't  pass.  (You  who 
know  the  dice  and  its  vagaries  will  know  what  he 
meant.)  This  was  mingled  with  words  and  com 
mands  from  Melvin  to  the  dice  in  trying  to  make 
some  point.  It  must  have  been  four.  He  would 
let  out  a  sort  of  yowl;  "Little  Joe,  can't  you  do  it?" 
I  went  my  way.  I  didn't  shoot  craps  nor  drink 
neither  did  I  belong  to  church  but  was  called  a 
dreadful  sinner  while  three  of  the  boys  under  the 
tank  had,  not  less  than  six  weeks  before,  joined 
church  and  were  now  full-fledged  members  in  good 
standing.  Of  course  I  did  not  consider  that  all 
people  who  belonged  to  church  were  not  Christians, 
but  was  quite  sure  that  many  were  not. 

The  following  January  a  relative  of  mine  got  a 
job  for  me  bailing  water  in  a  coal  mine  in  a  little 
town  inhabited  entirely  by  negroes.  I  worked  from 
six  o'clock  P.  M.  to  six  A.  M.,  and  received  two 


22  The    Conquest 

dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  therefor.  The  work 
was  rough  and  hard  and  the  mine  very  dark.  The 
smoke  hung  like  a  cloud  near  the  top  of  the  tunnel- 
like  room  during  all  the  night.  This  was  because 
the  fans  were  all  but  shut  off  at  night,  and  just 
enough  air  was  pumped  in  to  prevent  the  forma 
tion  of  black  damp.  The  smoke  made  my  head 
ache  until  I  felt  stupid  and  the  dampness  made  me 
ill,  but  the  two  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  per 
day  looked  good  to  me.  After  six  weeks,  however, 
I  was  forced  to  quit,  and  with  sixty-five  dollars — 
more  money  than  I  had  ever  had — I  went  to  see 
my  older  sister  who  was  teaching  in  a  nearby  town. 

I  had  grown  into  a  strong,  husky  youth  of  eighteen 
and  my  sister  was  surprised  to  see  that  I  was  work 
ing  and  taking  care  of  myself  so  well.  She  shared 
the  thought  of  nearly  all  of  my  acquaintances  that 
I  was  too  lazy  to  leave  home  and  do  hard  work, 
especially  in  the  winter  time.  After  awhile  she 
suddenly  looked  at  me  and  spoke  as  though  afraid 
she  would  forget  it, "  0,0scar !  I've  got  a  girl  for  you; 
what  do  you  think  of  that?"  smiling  so  pleasantly, 
I  was  afraid  she  was  joking.  You  see,  I  had  never 
been  very  successful  with  the  girls  and  when  she 
mentioned  having  a  girl  for  me  my  heart  was  all 
a  flutter  and  when  she  hesitated  I  put  in  eagerly. 

"Aw  go  on — quit  your  kidding.  On  the  level 
now,  or  are  you  just  chiding  me?"  But  she  took 
on  a  serious  expression  and  speaking  thoughtfully, 
she  went  on. 

"Yes,  she  lives  next  door  and  is  a  nice  little  girl, 
and  pretty.  The  prettiest  colored  girl  in  town." 

Here  I  lost  interest  for  I  remembered  my  sister 


The    Conquest  23 

was  foolish  about  beauty  and  I  said  that  I  didn't 
care  to  meet  her.  I  was  suspicious  when  it  came  to 
the  pretty  type  of  girls,  and  had  observed  that  the 
prettiest  girl  in  town  was  oft  times  petted  and  spoiled 
and  a  mere  butterfly. 

"0  why?"  She  spoke  like  one  hurt.  Then  I 
confessed  my  suspicions.  "0,  You're  foolish/' 
she  exclaimed  softly,  appearing  relieved.  "Be 
sides,"  she  went  on  brightly  "Jessie  isn't  a  spoiled 
girl,  you  wait  until  you  meet  her."  And  in  spite 
of  my  protests  she  sent  the  landlady's  little  girl 
off  for  Miss  Rooks.  She  came  over  in  about  an 
hour  and  I  found  her  to  be  demure  and  thoughtful, 
as  well  as  pretty.  She  was  small  of  stature,  had 
dark  eyes  and  beautiful  wavy,  black  hair,  and  an 
olive  complexion.  She  wouldn't  allow  me  to  look 
into  her  eyes  but  continued  to  cast  them  downward, 
sitting  with  folded  hands  and  answering  when  spoken 
to  in  a  tiny  voice  quite  in  keeping  with  her  small 
person. 

During  the  afternoon  I  mentioned  that  I  was 
going  to  Chicago,  "Now  Oscar,  you've  got  no 
business  in  Chicago,"  my  sister  spoke  up  with  a 
touch  of  authority.  "You're  too  young,  and 
besides,"  she  asked  "do  you  know  whether  W.  0. 
wants  you?"  W.  0.  was  our  oldest  brother  and 
was  then  making  Chicago  his  home. 

"Huh!"  I  snorted  "I'm  going  on  my  own  hook," 
and  drawing  up  to  my  full  six  feet  I  tried  to  look 
brave,  which  seemed  to  have  the  desired  effect 
on  my  sister. 

"Well"  she  said  resignedly,  "you  must  be  careful 
and  not  get  into  bad  company — be  good  and  try 
to  make  a  man  of  yourself." 


24  TheConquest 

CHAPTER  III 

CHICAGO,  CHASING  A  WILL-0-THE-WISP 

[HAT  was  on  Sunday  morning  three  hun 
dred  miles  south  of  Chicago,  and  at 
nine-forty  that  night  I  stepped  off  the 
New  Orleans  and  Chicago  fast  mail 
into  a  different  world.  It  was,  I  believe,  the 
coldest  night  that  I  had  ever  experienced.  The 
city  was  new  and  strange  to  me  and  I  wandered 
here  and  there  for  hours  before  I  finally  found  my 
brother's  address  on  Armour  Avenue.  But  the 
wandering  and  anxiety  mattered  little,  for  I  was 
in  the  great  city  where  I  intended  beginning  my 
career,  and  felt  that  bigger  things  were  in  store 
for  me. 

The  next  day  my  brother's  landlady  appeared 
to  take  a  good  deal  of  interest  in  me  and  encouraged 
me  so  that  I  became  quite  confidential,  and  told 
her  of  my  ambitions  for  the  future  and  that  it  was 
my  intention  to  work,  save  my  money  and  even 
tually  become  a  property  owner.  I  was  rather 
chagrined  later,  however,  to  find  that  she  had 
repeated  all  this  to  my  brother  and  he  gave  me  a 
good  round  scolding,  accompanied  by  the  un 
solicited  advice  that  if  I  would  keep  my  mouth  shut 
people  wouldn't  know  I  was  so  green.  He  had  been 
traveling  as  a  waiter  on  an  eastern  railroad  dining 
car,  but  in  a  fit  of  independence — which  had  always 
been  characteristic  of  him — had  quit,  and  now  in 
mid- winter,  was  out  of  a  job.  He  was  not  en 
thusiastic  concerning  my  presence  in  the  city  and 


The    Conquest  25 

I  had  found  him  broke,  but  with  a  lot  of  fine  clothes 
and  a  diamond  or  two.  Most  folks  from  the  country 
don't  value  good  clothes  and  diamonds  in  the  way 
city  folks  do  and  I,  for  one,  didn't  think  much  of 
his  finery. 

I  was  greatly  disappointed,  for  I  had  anticipated 
that  my  big  brother  would  have  accumulated  some 
property  or  become  master  of  a  bank  account 
during  these  five  or  six  years  he  had  been  away 
from  home.  He  seemed  to  sense  this  disappoint 
ment  and  became  more  irritated  at  my  presence 
and  finally  wrote  home  to  my  parents — who  had 
recently  moved  to  Kansas — charging  me  with  the 
crime  of  being  a  big,  awkward,  ignorant  kid,  un 
sophisticated  in  the  ways  of  the  world,  and  especially 
of  the  city;  that  I  was  likely  to  end  my  "career" 
by  running  over  a  street  car  and  permitting  the  city 
to  irretrievably  lose  me,  or  something  equally  as 
bad.  When  I  heard  from  my  mother  she  was 
worried  and  begged  me  to  come  home.  I  knew  the 
folks  at  home  shared  my  brother's  opinion  of  me 
and  believed  all  he  had  told  them,  so  I  had  a  good 
laugh  all  to  myself  in  spite  of  the  depressing  effect 
it  had  on  me.  However,  there  was  the  reaction, 
and  when  it  set  in  I  became  heartsick  and  dis 
couraged  and  then  and  there  became  personally 
acquainted  with  the  "blues",  who  gave  me  their 
undivided  attention  for  some  time  after  that. 

The  following  Sunday  I  expected  him  to  take 
me  to  church  with  him,  but  he  didn't.  He  went 
alone,  wearing  his  five  dollar  hat,  fifteen  dollar 
made-to-measure  shoes,  forty-five  dollar  coat  and 
vest,  eleven  dollar  trousers,  fifty  dollar  tweed 


26  The    Conquest 

overcoat  and  his  diamonds.  I  found  my  way  to 
church  alone  and  when  I  saw  him  sitting  reservedly 
in  an  opposite  pew,  I  felt  snubbed  and  my  heart 
sank.  However,  only  momentarily,  for  a  new  light 
dawned  upon  me  and  I  saw  the  snobbery  and  folly 
of  it  all  and  resolved  that  some  day  I  would  rise 
head  and  shoulders  above  that  foolish,  four-flushing 
brother  of  mine  in  real  and  material  success. 

I  finally  secured  irregular  employment  at  the 
Union  Stock  Yards.  The  wages  at  that  time  were 
not  the  best.  Common  labor  a  dollar-fifty  per  day 
and  the  hours  very  irregular.  Some  days  I  was 
called  for  duty  at  five  in  the  morning  and  laid  off 
at  three  in  the  afternoon  or  called  again  at  eight  in 
the  evening  to  work  until  nine  the  same  evening. 
I  soon  found  the  mere  getting  of  jobs  to  be  quite 
easy.  It  was  getting  a  desirable  one  that  gave  me 
trouble.  However,  when  I  first  went  to  the  yards 
and  looked  at  the  crowds  waiting  before  the  office 
in  quest  of  employment,  I  must  confess  I  felt 
rather  discouraged,  but  my  new  surroundings  and 
that  indefinable  interesting  feature  about  these 
crowds  with  their  diversity  of  nationalities  and 
ambitions,  made  me  forget  my  own  little  disap 
pointments.  Most  all  new  arrivals,  whether  skilled 
or  unskilled  workmen,  seeking  "jobs"  in  the  city 
find  their  way  to  the  yards.  Thousands  of  unskilled 
laborers  are  employed  here  and  it  seems  to  be  the 
Mecca  for  the  down-and-out  who  wander  thither  in 
a  last  effort  to  obtain  employment. 

The  people  with  whom  I  stopped  belonged  to 
the  servant  class  and  lived  neatly  in  their  Armour 
Avenue  flat.  The  different  classes  of  people  who 


TheConquest  27 

make  up  the  population  of  a  great  city  are  segre 
gated  more  by  their  occupations  than  anything 
else.  The  laborers  usually  live  in  a  laborer's  neigh 
borhood.  Tradesmen  find  it  more  agreeable  among 
their  fellow  workmen  and  the  same  is  true  of  the 
servants  and  others.  I  found  that  employment 
which  soiled  the  clothes  and  face  and  hands  was 
out  of  keeping  among  the  people  with  whom  I 
lived,  so  after  trying  first  one  job,  then  another,  I 
went  to  Joliet,  Illinois,  to  work  out  my  fortune  in 
the  steel  mills  of  that  town.  I  was  told  that  at 
that  place  was  an  excellent  opportunity  to  learn  a 
trade,  but  after  getting  only  the  very  roughest  kind 
of  work  to  do  around  the  mills,  such  as  wrecking 
and  carrying  all  kinds  of  broken  iron  and  digging 
in  a  canal  along  with  a  lot  of  jabbering  foreigners 
whose  English  vocabulary  consisted  of  but  one 
word — their  laborer's  number.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  I  saw  little  chance  of  learning  a  trade  at 
any  very  early  date. 

Pay  day  "happened"  every  two  weeks  with  two 
weeks  held  back.  If  I  quit  it  would  be  three  weeks 
before  I  could  get  my  wages,  but  was  informed  of  a 
scheme  by  which  I  could  get  my  money,  by  telling 
the  foreman  that  I  was  going  to  leave  the  state. 
Accordingly,  I  approached  the  renowned  imbecile 
and  told  him  that  I  was  going  to  California  and 
would  have  to  quit  and  would  like  to  get  my  pay. 
"Pay  day  is  every  two  weeks,  so  be  sure  to  get 
back  in  time,"  he  answered  in  that  officious  manner 
so  peculiar  to  foremen.  I  had  only  four  dollars 
coming,  so  I  quit  anyway. 

That   evening   I   became   the   recipient   of   the 


28  TheConquest 

illuminating  information  that  if  I  would  apply  at 
the  coal  chutes  I  would  find  better  employment  as 
well  as  receive  better  wages.  I  sought  out  the 
fellow  in  charge,  a  big  colored  man  weighing  about 
two  hundred  pounds,  who  gave  me  work  cracking 
and  heaving  coal  into  the  chute  at  a  dollar-fifty 
per  twenty-five  tons. 

"Gracious",  I  expostulated.  "A  man  can't  do 
all  of  that  in  a  day". 

"Pooh",  and  he  waved  his  big  hands  depreciat 
ingly,  "I  have  heaved  forty  tons  with  small  effort". 

I  decided  to  go  to  work  that  day,  but  with  many 
misgivings  as  to  cracking  and  shoveling  twenty-five 
tons  of  coal.  The  first  day  I  managed,  by  dint  of 
hard  labor,  to  crack  and  heave  eighteen  tons  out 
of  a  box  car,  for  which  I  received  the  munificent 
sum  of  one  dollar,  and  the  next  day  I  fell  to  sixteen 
tons  and  likewise  to  eighty-nine  cents.  The  con 
tractor  who  superintended  the  coal  business  bought 
me  a  drink  in  a  nearby  saloon,  and  as  I  drank  it  with 
a  gulp  he  patted  me  on  the  shoulder,  saying,  "Now, 
after  the  third  day,  son,  you  begin  to  improve  and 
at  the  end  of  a  week  you  can  heave  thirty  tons  a 
day  as  easily  as  a  clock  ticking  the  time".  I 
thought  he  was  going  to  add  that  I  would  be  shovel 
ing  forty  tons  like  Big  Jim,  the  fellow  who  gave 
me  the  job,  but  I  cut  him  off  by  telling  him  that 
I'd  resign  before  I  became  so  proficient. 

I  had  to  send  for  more  money  to  pay  my  board. 
My  brother,  being  my  banker,  sent  a  statement  of 
my  account,  showing  that  I  had  to  date  just  twenty- 
five  dollars,  and  the  statement  seemed  to  read 
coldly  between  the  lines  that  I  would  soon  be 


TheConquest  29 

broke,  out  of  a  job,  and  what  then?  I  felt  very 
serious  about  the  matter  and  when  I  returned  to 
Chicago  I  had  lost  some  of  my  confidence  regarding 
my  future.  Mrs.  Nelson,  the  landlady,  boasted 
that  her  husband  made  twenty  dollars  per  week; 
showed  me  her  diamonds  and  spoke  so  very  highly 
of  my  brother,  that  I  suspicioned  that  she  admired 
him  a  great  deal,  and  that  he  was  in  no  immediate 
danger  of  losing  his  room  even  when  he  was  out  of 
work  and  unable  to  meet  his  obligations. 

My  next  step  was  to  let  an  employment  agency 
swindle  me  out  of  two  dollars.  Their  system  was 
quite  unique,  and,  I  presume,  legitimate.  They 
persuaded  the  applicant  to  deposit  three  dollars  as 
a  guarantee  of  good  faith,  after  which  they  were  to 
find  a  position  for  him.  A  given  percentage  was 
also  to  be  taken  from  the  wages  for  a  certain  length 
of  time.  Some  of  these  agencies  may  have  been 
all  right,  but  my  old  friend,  the  hoodoo,  led  me  to 
one  that  was  an  open  fraud.  After  the  person 
seeking  employment  has  been  sent  to  several  places 
for  imaginary  positions  that  prove  to  be  only  myths, 
the  agency  offers  to  give  back  a  dollar  and  the  dis 
gusted  applicant  is  usually  glad  to  get  it.  I,  my 
self,  being  one  of  many  of  these  unfortunates. 

I  then  tried  the  newspaper  ads.  There  is  usually 
some  particular  paper  in  any  large  city  that  makes 
a  specialty  of  want  advertisements.  I  was  told,  as 
was  necessary,  to  stand  at  the  door  when  the  paper 
came  from  the  press,  grab  a  copy,  choose  an  ad 
that  seemed  promising  and  run  like  wild  for  the 
address  given.  I  had  no  trade,  so  turned  to  the 
miscellaneous  column,  and  as  I  had  no  references 


30  TheConquest 

I  looked  for  a  place  where  none  were  required.  If 
the  address  was  near  I  would  run  as  fast  as  the 
crowded  street  and  the  speed  laws  would  permit, 
but  always  found  upon  arrival  that  someone  had 
just  either  been  accepted  ahead  of  me,  or  had  been 
there  a  week.  I  having  run  down  an  old  ad  that 
had  been  permitted  to  run  for  that  time.  About 
the  only  difference  I  found  between  the  newspapers 
and  the  employment  agencies  was  that  I  didn't 
have  to  pay  three  dollars  for  the  experience. 

I  now  realized  the  disadvantages  of  being  an  un 
skilled  laborer,  and  had  grown  weary  of  chasing  a 
"  will-o-the- wisp "  and  one  day  while  talking  to  a 
small  Indian-looking  negro  I  remarked  that  I  wished 
I  could  find  a  job  in  some  suburb  shining  shoes  in  a 
barber  shop  or  something  that  would  take  me  away 
from  Chicago  and  its  dilly-dally  jobs  for  awhile. 

"I  know  where  you  can  get  a  job  like  that",  he 
answered,  thoughtfully. 

"Where?"    I  asked  eagerly. 

"Why,  out  at  Eaton",  he  went  on,  "a  suburb 
about  twenty-five  miles  west.  A  fellow  wanted 
me  to  go  but  I  don't  want  to  leave  Chicago". 

I  found  that  most  of  the  colored  people  with  whom 
I  had  become  acquainted  who  lived  in  Chicago  Very 
long  were  similarly  reluctant  about  leaving,  but  I 
was  ready  to  go  anywhere.  So  my  new  friend  took 
me  over  to  a  barber  supply  house  on  Clark  street, 
where  a  man  gave  me  the  name  of  the  barber  at 
Eaton  and  told  me  to  come  by  in  the  morning  and 
he'd  give  me  a  ticket  to  the  place.  When  I  got  on 
the  street  again  I  felt  so  happy  and  grateful  to  my 
friend  for  the  information,  that  I  gave  the  little 
mulatto  a  half  dollar,  all  the  money  I  had  with 


The    Conquest  31 

me,  and  had  to  walk  the  forty  blocks  to  my  room. 
Here  I  filled  my  old  grip  and  the  next  morning 
"beat  it"  for  Eaton,  arriving  there  on  the  first  of 
May,  and  a  cold,  bleak,  spring  morning  it  was.  I 
found  the  shop  without  any  trouble — a  dingy  little 
place  with  two  chairs.  The  proprietor,  a  drawn, 
unhappy  looking  creature,  and  a  hawkish  looking 
German  assistant  welcomed  me  cordially.  They 
seemed  to  need  company.  The  proprietor  led  me 
upstairs  to  a  room  that  I  could  have  free  with  an 
oil  stove  and  table  where  I  could  cook — so  I  made 
arrangements  to  "bach". 

I  received  no  wages,  but  was  allowed  to  retain 
all  I  made  "shining".  I  had  acquired  some  ex 
perience  shining  shoes  on  the  streets  of  M — pis 
with  a  home-made  box — getting  on  my  knees  when 
ever  I  got  a  customer.  "Shining  shoes"  is  not 
usually  considered  an  advanced  or  technical  occupa 
tion  requiring  skill.  However,  if  properly  conducted 
it  can  be  the  making  of  a  good  solicitor.  While 
Eaton  was  a  suburb  it  was  also  a  country  town  and 
this  shop  was  never  patronized  by  any  of  the 
metropolitan  class  who  made  their  homes  there,  but 
principally  by  the  country  class  who  do  not  evidence 
their  city  pride  by  the  polish  of  their  shoes.  Few 
city  people  allow  their  shoes  to  go  unpolished  and 
I  wasn't  long  in  finding  it  out,  and  when  I  did  I 
had  something  to  say  to  the  men  who  went  by, 
well  dressed  but  with  dirty  shoes.  If  I  could  argue 
them  into  stopping,  if  only  for  a  moment,  I  could 
nearly  always  succeed  in  getting  them  into  the 
chair. 

Business,  however,  was  dull  and  I  began  taking 
jobs  in   the  country  from   the   farmers,   working 


32  The    Conquest 

through  the  day  and  getting  back  to  the  shop  for 
the  evening.  This,  however,  was  short  lived,  for  I 
was  unaccustomed  to  farm  work  since  leaving  home 
and  found  it  extremely  difficult.  My  first  work  in 
the  country  was  pitching  timothy  hay  side-by-side 
with  a  girl  of  sixteen,  who  knew  how  to  pitch  hay. 
I  thought  it  would  be  quite  romantic  before  I 
started,  but  before  night  came  I  had  changed  my 
mind.  The  man  on  the  wagon  would  drive  along 
side  a  big  cock  of  sweet  smelling  hay  and  the  girl 
would  stick  her  fork  partly  to  one  side  of  the  hay 
cock  and  show  me  how  to  put  my  fork  into  the 
other.  I  was  left-handed  while  she  was  right,  and 
with  our  backs  to  the  wagon  we  could  make  a  heavy 
lift  and  when  the  hay  was  directly  overhead  we'd 
turn  and  face  each  other  and  over  the  load  would 
go  onto  the  wagon.  Toward  evening  the  loads 
thus  balanced  seemed  to  me  as  heavy  as  the  load 
of  Atlas  bearing  the  earth.  I  am  sure  my  face  dis 
closed  the  fatigue  and  strain  under  which  I  labored, 
for  it  was  clearly  reflected  in  the  knowing  grin  of 
my  companion.  I  drew  my  pay  that  night  on  the 
excuse  of  having  to  get  an  overall  suit,  promising  to 
be  back  at  a  quarter  to  seven  the  next  morning. 

Then  I  tried  shocking  oats  along  with  a  boy  of 
about  twelve,  a  girl  of  fourteen  and  the  farmer's 
wife.  The  way  those  two  children  did  work, — 
Whew!  I  was  so  glad  when  a  shower  came  up 
about  noon  that  I  refrained  from  shouting  with 
difficulty.  I  drew  my  pay  this  time  to  get  some 
gloves,  and  promised  to  be  back  as  soon  as  it  dried. 
The  next  morning  I  felt  so  sore  and  stiff  as  the 
result  of  my  two  days'  experience  in  the  harvest 


The    Conquest  33 

fields,  that  I  forgot  all  about  my  promise  to  return 
and  decided  to  stay  in  Eaton. 

It  was  in  Eaton  that  I  started  my  first  bank 
account.  The  little  twenty-dollar  certificate  of 
deposit  opened  my  mind  to  different  things  entirely. 
I  would  look  at  it  until  I  had  day  dreams.  During 
the  three  months  I  spent  in  Eaton  I  laid  the  foun 
dation  of  a  future.  Simple  as  it  was,  it  led  me  into 
channels  which  carried  me  away  from  my  race  and 
into  a  life  fraught  with  excitement;  a  life  that  gave 
experiences  and  other  things  I  had  never  dreamed 
of.  I  had  started  a  bank  account  of  twenty  dollars 
and  I  found  myself  wanting  one  of  thirty,  and  to 
my  surprise  the  desire  seemed  to  increase.  This 
desire  fathered  my  plans  to  become  a  porter  on  a 

P n  car.  A  position  I  diligently  sought  and 

applied  for  between  such  odd  jobs  about  town 
as  mowing  lawns,  washing  windows,  scrubbing 
floors  and  a  variety  of  others  that  kept  me  quite 
busy.  Taking  the  work,  if  I  could,  by  contract, 
thus  permitting  me  to  use  my  own  time  and  to 
work  as  hard  as  I  desired  to  finish.  I  found  that 
by  this  plan  I  could  make  money  faster  and  easier 
than  by  working  in  the  country. 

I  was  finally  rewarded  by  being  given  a  run  on 
a  parlor  car  by  a  road  that  reached  many  summer 
resorts  in  southern  Wisconsin.  Here  I  skimped 
along  on  a  run  that  went  out  every  Friday  and  Satur 
day,  returning  on  Monday  morning.  The  regular 
salary  was  forty  dollars  per  month,  but  as  I  never 
put  in  more  than  half  the  time  I  barely  made  twenty 
dollars,  and  altho'  I  made  a  little  "on  the  side"  in 
the  way  of  tips  I  had  to  draw  on  the  money  I  had 
saved  in  Eaton. 


34  TheConquest 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE  P—       — N  COMPANY 

HE  P—  — n  Company  is  a  big  palace, 
dining  and  sleeping  car  company  that 
most  American  people  know  a  great 
deal  about.  I  had  long  desired  to  have 
a  run  on  one  of  the  magnificent  sleepers  that  oper 
ated  out  of  Chicago  to  every  part  of  North  America, 
that  I  might  have  an  opportunity  to  see  the  country 
and  make  money  at  the  same  time,  and  from  Monday 
to  Friday  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  report  at  one  of 

the  three  P n  offices  in  my  effort  to  get  such  a 

position.  One  office  where  I  was  particularly  at 
tentive,  operated  cars  on  four  roads,  so  I  called  on 
this  office  about  twice  a  week,  but  a  long,  slim  chief 
clerk  whose  chair  guarded  the  entrance  to  the 
Superintendent's  office  would  drawl  out  lazily: 
"We  don't  need  any  men  today."  I  had  been 
to  the  office  a  number  of  times  before  I  left  Eaton 
and  had  heard  his  drawl  so  often  that  I  grew  nervous 
whenever  he  looked  at  me.  That  district  employed 
over  a  thousand  porters  and  there  was  no  doubt 
that  they  hired  them  every  day.  One  day  I  was 
telling  my  troubles  to  a  friendly  porter  whom  I 
later  learned  to  be  George  Cole  (former  husband 
of  the  present  wife  of  Bert  Williams,  the  comedian). 
He  advised  me  to  see  Mr.  Miltzow,the  Superinten 
dent. 

"But  I  can  never  see  him"  I  said  despairingly, 
"for  that  long  imbecile  of  a  clerk." 
"Jump  him  some  day  when  he  is  on  the  way  from 


TheConquest  35 

luncheon,  talk  fast,  tell  him  how  you  have  been 
trying  all  summer  to  'get  on',  the  old  man"  he  said, 
referring  to  the  superintendent,  "likes  big,  stout 
youngsters  like  you,  so  try  it."  The  next  day  I 
watched  him  from  the  street  and  when  he  started 
to  descend  the  long  stairway  to  his  office,  I  gathered 
my  courage  and  stepped  to  his  side.  I  told  him  how 
I  had  fairly  haunted  his  office,  only  to  be  turned 
away  regularly  by  the  same  words;  that  I  would 
like  a  position  if  he  would  at  any  time  need  any 
men.  He  went  into  his  office,  leaving  me  standing 
at  the  railing,  where  I  held  my  grounds  in  defiance 
of  the  chief  clerk's  insolent  stare.  After  a  few 
minutes  he  looked  up  and  called  out  "Come  in 
here,  you."  As  I  stood  before  him  he  looked  me 
over  searchingly  and  inquired  as  to  whether  I  had 
any  references. 

"No  Sir,"  I  answered  quickly,  "but  I  can  get 
them."  I  was  beside  myself  with  nervous  excite 
ment  and  watched  him  eagerly  for  fear  he  might 
turn  me  away  at  the  physicological  moment,  and 
that  I  would  fail  to  get  what  I  had  wanted  so  long. 

"Well,"  he  said  in  a  decisive  tone,  "get  good 
references,  showing  what  you  have  been  doing  for 
the  last  five  years,  bring  them  around  and  I'll  talk 
to  you." 

"Thank  you  Sir,"  I  blurted  out  and  with  hopes 
soaring  I  hurried  out  and  down  the  steps.  Going  to 
my  room,  I  wrote  for  references  to  people  in  M — pis 
who  had  known  me  all  my  life.  Of  course  they 
sent  me  the  best  of  letters,  which  I  took  immediately 
to  Mr.  Miltzow's  office.  After  looking  them  over 
carelessly  he  handed  them  to  his  secretary  asking 


36  The    Conquest 

me  whether  I  was  able  to  buy  a  uniform.  When  I 
answered  in  the  affirmative  he  gave  me  a  letter  to 
the  company's  tailor,  and  one  to  the  instructor,  who 
the  next  day  gave  me  my  first  lessons  in  a  car  called 
the  "school"  in  a  nearby  railroad  yard  placed  there 
for  that  purpose.  I  learned  all  that  was  required 
in  a  day,  although  he  had  some  pupils  who  had 
been  with  him  five  days  before  I  started  and  who 
graduated  with  me.  I  now  thought  I  was  a  full- 
fledged  porter  and  was  given  an  order  for  equipment, 
combs,  brushes,  etc.,  a  letter  from  the  instructor 
to  the  man  that  signed  out  the  runs,  a  very  apt 
appearing  young  man  with  a  gift  for  remembering 
names  and  faces,  who  instructed  me  to  report  on 
the  morrow.  The  thought  of  my  first  trip  the  next 
day,  perhaps  to  some  distant  city  I  had  never 
seen,  caused  me  to  lie  awake  the  greater  part  of 
the  night. 

When  I  went  into  the  porter's  room  the  next  day, 
or  "down  in  the  hole,"  as  the  basement  was  called, 
and  looked  into  the  place,  I  found  it  crowded  with 
men,  and  mostly  old  men  at  that  and  I  felt  sure  it 
would  be  a  long  time  before  I  was  sent  out.  How 
ever,  I  soon  learned  that  the  most  of  them  were 
"emergency  men"  or  emergies,  men  who  had  been 
discharged  and  who  appeared  regularly  in  hopes  of 
getting  a  car  that  could  not  be  supplied  with  a 
regular  man. 

There  was  one  by  the  name  of  Knight,  a  pitiable 
and  forlorn  character  in  whose  breast  "hope  sprang 
eternal,"  who  came  to  the  "hole"  every  day,  and 
in  an  entire  year  he  had  made  one  lone  trip.  He 
lived  by  "mooching"  a  dime,  quarter  or  fifty  cents 


TheConquest  37 

from  first  one  porter  then  another  and  by  helping 
some  porters  make  down  beds  in  cars  that  went 
out  on  midnight  trains.  It  was  said  that  he  had 
been  discharged  on  account  of  too  strict  adherence 
to  duty.  Every  member  of  a  train  crew,  whether 
porter,  brukeman  or  conductor,  must  carry  a  book 
of  rules;  more  as  a  matter  of  form  than  to  show  to 
passengers  as  Knight  had  done.  A  trainman 
should,  and  does,  depend  more  on  his  judgment  than 
on  any  set  of  rules,  and  permits  the  rule  to  be 
stretched  now  and  then  to  fit  circumstances. 
Knight,  however,  courted  his  rule  book  and  when 
a  passenger  requested  some  service  that  the  rules 
prohibited,  such  for  instance  as  an  extra  pillow  to 
a  berth,  and  if  the  passenger  insisted  or  showed 
dissatisfaction  Knight  would  get  his  book  of  rules, 
turn  to  the  chapter  which  dwelt  on  the  subject  and 
read  it  aloud  to  the  already  disgruntled  passenger, 
thereby  making  more  or  less  of  a  nuisance  to  the 
traveling  public. 

But  I  am  disgressing.  Fred,  the" sign-out-clerk " 
came  along  and  the  many  voices  indulging  in  loud 
and  raucous  conversation  so  characteristic  of  porters 
off  duty,  gave  way  to  respectful  silence.  He  looked 
favorably  on  the  regular  men  but  seemed  to  pass  up 
the  emergies  as  he  entered.  The  poor  fellows  didn't 
expect  to  be  sent  out  but  it  seemed  to  fascinate 
them  to  hear  the  clerk  assign  the  regular  men  their 
cars  to  some  distant  cities  in  his  cheerful  language 
such  as:  "Hello!  Brooks,  where  did  you  come  from? 
— From  San  Antonio?  Well  take  the  car  'Litch- 
field'  to  Oakland;  leaves  on  Number  Three  at 
eleven  o'clock  to-night  over  the  B.  &  R.  N.;  have 


38  The    Conquest 

the  car  all  ready,  eight  lowers  made  down."  And 
from  one  to  the  other  he  would  go,  signing  one  to 
go  east  and  another  west.  Respectfully  silent  and 
attentive  the  men's  eyes  would  follow  him  as  he 
moved  on,  each  and  every  man  eager  to  know 
where  he  would  be  sent. 

Finally  he  got  to  me.  He  had  an  excellent  mem 
ory  and  seemed  to  know  all  men  by  name.  "Well 
Devereaux,"  he  said,  "do  you  think  that  you  can 
run  a  car?" 

"Yes  Sir!"  I  answered  quickly.  He  fumbled  his 
pencil  thoughtfully  while  I  waited  nervously  then 
went  on: 

"And  you  feel  quite  capable  of  running  a  car,  do 
you?" 

"Yes  Sir"  I  replied  with  emphasis,  "I  learned 
thoroughly  yesterday." 

"Well, "he  spoke  as  one  who  has  weighed  the 
matter  and  is  not  quite  certain  but  willing  to  risk, 
and  taking  his  pad  and  pencil  he  wrote,  speaking 
at  the  same  time,  "You  go  out  to  the  Ft.  Wayne 
yards  and  get  on  the  car  'Altata',  goes  extra  to 
Washington  D.  C.  at  three  o'clock;  put  away  the 
linen,  put  out  combs,  brushes  and  have  the  car  in 
order  when  the  train  backs  down." 

"Yes  Sir,"  and  I  hurried  out  of  the  room,  up  the 
steps  and  onto  the  street  where  I  could  give  vent  to 
my  elation.  To  Washington,  first  of  all  places. 
0  Glory!  and  I  fairly  flew  out  to  Sixteenth  street 
where  the  P.  F.  &  W.  passenger  yards  were  located. 
Here  not  less  than  seven  hundred  passenger  and 

and  P n  cars  are  cleaned  and  put  in  readiness 

for  each  trip  daily,  and  standing  among  them  I 


The    Conquest  39 

found  the  Altata.  0  wonderful  name!  She  was 
a  brand  new  observation  car  just  out  of  the  shops. 
I  dared  not  believe  my  eyes,  and  felt  that  there 
must  be  some  mistake;  surely  the  company  didn't 
expect  to  send  me  out  with  such  a  fine  car  on  my 
first  trip.  But  I  should  have  known  better,  for 

among  the  many  thousands  of  P n  cars  with 

their  picturesque  names,  there  was  not  another 
"Altata."  I  looked  around  the  yards  and  finally 
inquired  of  a  cleaner  as  to  where  the  Altata  was. 

"Right  there/'  he  said,  pointing  to  the  car  I  had 
been  looking  at  and  I  boarded  her  nervously ;  found 
the  linen  and  lockers  but  was  at  a  loss  to  know  how 
and  where  to  start  getting  the  car  in  order.  I  was 
more  than  confused  and  what  I  had  learned  so 
quickly  the  day  before  had  vanished  like  smoke. 
I  was  afraid  too,  that  if  I  didn't  have  the  car  in 
order  I'd  be  taken  off  when  the  train  backed  down 
and  become  an  "emergie"  myself.  This  shocked 
me  so  it  brought  me  to  my  senses  and  I  got  busy 
putting  the  linen  somewhere  and  when  the  train 
stopped  in  the  shed  the  car,  as  well  as  myself,  was 
fairly  presentable  and  ready  to  receive. 

Then  came  the  rush  of  passengers  with  all  their 
attending  requests  for  attention.  "Ah  Poiter,  put 
my  grip  in  Thoiteen,"  and  "Ah  Poiter,  will  you  raise 
my  window  and  put  in  a  deflector?  "  Holy  Smither- 
ines !  I  rushed  back  and  forth  like  a  lost  calf,  trying 
to  recall  what  a  deflector  was,  and  I  couldn't  dis 
tinguish  thoiteen  from  three.  Then — "Ah,  Poiter, 
will  you  tell  me  when  we  get  to  Valparaiso?"  called 
a  little  blonde  lady,  "You  see,  I  have  a  son  who  is 
attending  the  Univoisity  theah — now  Poiter  don't 
don't  forget  please"  she  asked  winsomely. 


40  TheConquest 

"Oh!  No,  Maam,"  I  assured  her  confidently  that 
I  never  forgot  anything.  My  confusion  became  so 
intense  had  I  gotten  off  the  car  I'd  probably  not 
have  known  which  way  to  get  on  again. 

The  clerk  seemed  to  sense  my  embarrassment 
and  helped  me  seat  the  passengers  in  their  proper 
places,  as  well  as  to  answer  the  numerous  questions 
directed  at  me.  The  G.  A.  R.  encampment  was 
on  in  Washington  and  the  rush  was  greater  than 
usual  on  that  account.  By  the  time  the  train 
reached  Valparaiso  I  had  gotten  somewhat  ac 
customed  to  the  situation  and  recalled  my  promise 
to  the  little  blonde  lady  and  filled  it.  She  had  been 
asleep  and  it  was  raining  to  beat-the-band.  With 
a  sigh  she  looked  out  of  the  window  and  then  turned 
on  her  side  and  fell  asleep  again.  At  Pittsburg  I 
was  chagrined  to  be  turned  back  and  sent  over  the 
P.  H.  &  D.  to  Chicago. 

At  Columbus,  Ohio,  we  took  on  a  colored  preacher 
who  had  a  ticket  for  an  upper  berth  over  a  Souther 
ner  who  had  the  lower.  The  Southern  gentleman 
in  that  "holier  than  thou"  attitude  made  a  vigorous 
kick  to  the  conductor  to  have  the  colored  "Sky- 
pilot,"  as  he  termed  him,  removed.  I  heard  the 
conductor  tell  him  gently  but  firmly,  that  he  couldn't 
do  it.  Then  after  a  few  characteristic  haughty 
remarks  the  Southerner  went  forward  to  the  chair 
car  and  sat  up  all  night.  When  I  got  the  shoes 
shined  and  lavatory  ready  for  the  morning  rush  I 
slipped  into  the  Southerner's  berth  and  had  a  good 
snooze.  However,  longer  than  it  should  have  been, 
for  the  conductor  found  me  the  next  morning  as  the 
train  was  pulling  into  Chicago.  He  threatened 


TheConquest  41 

to  report  me  but  when  I  told  him  that  it  was  my 
first  trip  out,  that  I  hadn't  had  any  sleep  the  night 
before  and  none  the  night  before  that  on  account 
of  my  restlessnes  in  anticipation  of  the  trip,  he  re 
lented  and  helped  me  to  make  up  the  beds. 

I  barely  got  to  my  room  before  I  was  called  to 
go  out  again.  This  time  going  through  to  Washing 
ton.  The  P.  F.  &  W.  tracks  pass  right  through 
Washington's  " black  belt"  and  it  might  be  interest 
ing  to  the  reader  to  know  that  Washington  has  more 
colored  people  than  any  other  American  city.  I 
had  never  seen  so  many  colored  people.  In  fact, 
the  entire  population  seemed  to  be  negroes.  There 
was  an  old  lady  from  South  Dakota  on  my  car  who 
seemed  surprised  at  the  many  colored  people  and 
after  looking  quite  intently  for  some  time  she 
touched  me  on  the  sleeve,  whispering,  "Porter, 
aren't  there  anything  but  colored  people  here?" 
I  replied  that  it  seemed  so. 

At  the  station  a  near-mob  of  colored  boys  huddled 
before  the  steps  and  I  thought  they  would  fairly 
take  the  passengers  off  their  feet  by  the  way  they 
crowded  around  them.  However,  they  were  harm 
less  and  only  wanted  to  earn  a  dime  by  carrying 
grips.  Two  of  them  got  a  jui  jitsu  grip  on  that  of 
the  old  lady  from  South  Dakota,  and  to  say  that 
she  became  frightened  would  be  putting  it  mildly. 
Just  then  a  policeman  came  along  and  the  boys 
scattered  like  flies  and  the  old  lady  seemed  much 
relieved.  Having  since  taken  up  my  abode  in  that 
state  myself,  and  knowing  that  there  were  but  few 
negroes  inhabiting  it,  I  have  often  wondered  since 
how  she  must  have  felt  on  that  memorable  trip 
of  hers,  as  well  as  mine. 


42  The    Conquest 

After  working  some  four  months  on  various  and 
irregular  runs  that  took  me  to  all  the  important 
cities  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  I  was  put  on  a  regular  run  to  Portland, 
Oregon.  This  was  along  in  February  and  about 
the  same  time  that  I  banked  my  first  one  hundred 
dollars.  If  my  former  bank  account  had  stirred  my 
ambition  and  become  an  incentive  to  economy  and 
a  life  of  modest  habits,  the  larger  one  put  everything 
foolish  and  impractical  entirely  out  of  my  mind,  and 
economy,  modesty  and  frugality  became  fixed  habits 
of  my  life. 

At  a  point  in  Wyoming  on  my  run  to  Portland 
my  car  left  the  main  line  and  went  over  another 
through  Idaho  and  Oregon.  From  there  no  berth 
tickets  were  sold  by  the  station  agents  and  the  con 
ductors  collected  the  cash  fares,  and  had  for  many 
years  mixed  the  company's  money  with  their  own. 
I  soon  found  myself  in  the  mire  along  with  the  con 
ductors.  "Getting  in"  was  easy  and  tips  were 
good  for  a  hundred  dollars  a  month  and  sometimes 
more.  "Good  Conductors,"  a  name  applied  to 
"color  blind"  cons,  were  worth  seventy-five,  and 
with  the  twenty-five  dollar  salary  from  the  com 
pany,  I  averaged  two  hundred  dollars  a  month  for 
eighteen  months. 

There  is  something  fascinating  about  railroading, 
and  few  men  really  tire  of  it.  In  fact,  most  men, 
like  myself,  rather  enjoy  it.  I  never  tired  of  hearing 
the  t-clack  of  the  trucks  and  the  general  roar  of 
the  train  as  it  thundered  over  streams  and  crossings 
throughout  the  days  and  nights  across  the  con 
tinent  to  the  Pacific  coast.  The  scenery  never  grew 


TheConquest  43 

old,  as  it  was  quite  varied  between  Chicago  and 
North  Platte.  During  the  summer  it  is  one  large 
garden  farm,  dotted  with  numerous  cities,  thriving 
hamlets  and  towns,  fine  country  homes  so  char 
acteristic  of  the  great  middle  west,  and  is  always 
pleasing  to  the  eye. 

Between  North  Platte  and  Julesburg,  Colorado, 
is  the  heart  of  the  semi-arid  region,  where  the  yearly 
rainfall  is  insufficient  to  mature  crops,  but  where 
the  short  buffalo  grass  feeds  the  rancher's  herds 
winter  and  summer.  As  the  car  continues  west 
ward,  climbing  higher  and  higher  as  it  approaches 
the  Rockies,  the  air  becomes  quite  rare.  At  Chey 
enne  the  air  is  so  light  it  blows  a  gale  almost  steadily, 
and  the  eye  can  discern  objects  for  miles  away  while 
the  ear  cannot  hear  sounds  over  twenty  rods.  I 
shall  not  soon  forget  how  I  was  wont  to  gaze  at  the 
herds  of  cattle  ten  to  thirty  miles  away  grazing 
peacefully  on  the  great  Laramie  plains  to  the  south, 
while  beyond  that  lay  the  great  American  Rockies, 
their  ragged  peaks  towering  above  in  great  sep 
ulchral  forms,  filling  me  alternately  with  a  feeling 
of  romance  or  adventure,  depending  somewhat  on 
whether  it  was  a  story  of  the  "Roundup,"  or  some 
other  article  typical  of  the  west,  I  was  reading. 

Nearing  the  Continental  divide  the  car  pulls 
into  Rawlins,  which  is  about  the  highest,  driest  and 
most  uninviting  place  on  the  line.  From  here  the 
stage  lines  radiate  for  a  hundred  miles  to  the  north 
and  south.  Near  here  is  Medicine  Bow,  where  Owen 
Wister  lays  the  beginning  scenes  of  the  "Virginian"; 
and  beyond  lies  Rock  Springs,  the  home  of  the 
famous  coal  that  bears  its  name  and  which  com- 


44  TheConquest 

mands  the  highest  price  of  any  bituminous  coal. 
The  coal  lies  in  wide  veins,  the  shafts  run  hori 
zontally  and  there  are  no  deep  shafts  as  there  are 
in  the  coal  fields  of  Illinois  and  other  Central  states. 

From  here  the  train  descends  a  gentle  slope  to 
Green  River,  Wyoming,  a  division  point  in  the 
U.  P.  South  on  the D.  &  R.  G. is  Green  River,  Utah. 
Arriving  at  Granger  one  feels  as  though  he  had 
arrived  at  the  jumping  off  place  of  creation.  Like 
most  all  desert  stations  it  contains  nothing  of  in 
terest  and  time  becomes  a  bore.  Here  the  traffic 
is  divided  and  the  0.  S.  L.  takes  the  Portland  and 
Butte  section  into  Idaho  where  the  scenery  suddenly 
begins  to  get  brighter.  Indeed,  the  country  seems 
to  take  on  a  beautiful  and  cheerful  appearance; 
civilization  and  beautiful  farms  take  the  place  of 
the  wilderness,  sage  brush  and  skulking  coyotes. 
Thanks  to  the  irrigation  ditch. 

After  crossing  the  picturesque  American  Falls 
of  Snake  River,  the  train  soon  arrives  at  Minidoka. 
This  is  the  seat  of  the  great  Minidoka  project,  in 
which  the  United  States  Government  has  taken 
such  an  active  interest  and  constructed  a  canal 
over  seventy  miles  in  length.  This  has  converted 
about  a  quarter  of  a  million  acres  of  Idaho's  volcanic 
ash  soil  into  productive  lands  that  bloom  as  the 
rose.  It  was  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Snake 
River,  with  its  indescribable  scenery  and  its  many 
beautiful  little  cities,  that  attracted  my  attention 
and  looked  as  though  it  had/a  promising  future.  I 
had  contemplated  investing  in  some  of  its  lands 
and  locating,  if  I  should  happen  to  be  compelled 
by  stress  of  circumstances  to  change  my  occupation. 
This  came  to  pass  shortly  thereafter. 


The    Conquest  45 

The  end  came  after  a  trip  between  Granger  and 
Portland,  in  company  with  a  shrewd  Irish  conductor 
by  the  name  of  Wright,  who  not  only  "knocked 
down"  the  company's  money,  but  drank  a  good 
deal  more  whiskey  than  was  good  for  him.  On  this 
last  trip,  when  Wright  took  charge  of  the  car  at 
Granger,  he  began  telling  about  his  newly  acquired 
"dear  little  wifey."  Also  confiding  to  me  that  he 
had  quit  drinking  and  was  going  to  quit  "knocking 
down" — after  that  trip.  Oh,  yes!  Wright  was 
always  going  to  dispense  with  all  things  dishonest 
and  dishonorable — at  some  future  date.  Another 
bad  thing  about  Wright  was  that  he  would  steal, 
not  only  from  the  company,  but  from  the  porter 
as  well,  by  virtue  of  the  rule  that  required  the  porter 
to  take  a  duplicate  receipt  from  the  conductor  for 
each  and  every  passenger  riding  on  his  car,  whether 
the  passenger  has  a  ticket  or  pays  cash  fare.  These 
receipts  are  forwarded  to  the  Auditor  of  the  com 
pany  at  the  end  of  each  run. 

Wright's  method  of  stealing  from  the  porter  was 
not  to  turn  over  any  duplicates  or  receipts  until 
arriving  at  the  terminus.  Then  he  would  choose 
a  time  when  the  porter  was  very  busy  brushing 
the  passengers'  clothes  and  getting  the  tips,  and 
would  then  have  no  time  to  count  up  or  tell  just 
how  many  people  had  ridden.  I  had  received  in 
formation  from  others  concerning  him  and  was 
cautioned  to  watch.  So  on  our  first  trip  I  quietly 
checked  up  all  the  passengers  as  they  got  on  and 
where  they  got  off,  as  well  as  the  berth  or  seat  they 
occupied.  Arriving  at  Granger  going  east  he  gave 
me  the  wink  and  taking  me  into  the  smoking  room 
he  proceeded  to  give  me  the  duplicates  and  divide 


46  TheConquest 

the  spoils.  He  gave  me  six  dollars,  saying  he  had 
cut  such  and  such  a  passenger's  fare  and  that  was 
my  part.  I  summed  up  and  the  amount  "knocked 
down"  was  thirty-one  dollars.  I  showed  him  my 
figures  and  at  the  same  time  told  him  to  hand 
over  nine-fifty  more.  How  he  did  rage  and  swear 
about  the  responsibilities  being  all  on  him,  that  he 
did  all  the  collecting  and  the  "dirty  work"  in  con 
nection  therewith,  that  the  company  didn't  fire 
the  porter.  He  said  before  he  would  concede  to 
my  demands  he  would  turn  all  the  money  in  to  the 
company  and  report  me  for  insolence.  I  sat  calmly 
through  it  all  and  when  he  had  exhausted  his  vitu 
perations  I  calmly  said  "nine-fifty,  please."  I 
had  no  fear  of  his  doing  any  of  the  things  threatened 
for  I  had  dealt  with  grafting  conductors  long  enough 
to  know  that  when  they  determined  on  keeping  a 
fare  they  weren't  likely  to  turn  in  their  portion  to 
spite  the  porter,  and  Wright  was  no  exception. 

But  getting  back  to  the  last  trip.  An  old  lady 
had  given  me  a  quart  of  Old  Crow  Whiskey  bottled 
in  bond.  There  had  been  perhaps  a  half  pint  taken 
out.  I  thanked  her  profusely  and  put  it  in  the 
locker,  and  since  Wright  found  that  he  could  not 
keep  any  of  my  share  of  the  "knocked  down" 
fares  he  was  running  straight — that  is  with  me, 
and  we  were  quite  friendly,  so  I  told  him  of  the  gift 
and  where  to  find  it  if  he  wanted  a  "smile."  In  one 
end  of  the  P—  — n  where  the  drawing  room  cuts 
off  the  main  portion  of  the  car,  and  at  the  beginning 
of  the  curved  aisle  and  opposite  to  the  drawing 
room,  is  the  locker.  When  its  door  is  open  it 
completely  closes  the  aisle,  thus  hiding  a  person  from 


TheConquest  47 

view  behind  it.  Before  long  I  saw  Wright  open  the 
door  and  a  little  later  could  hear  him  ease  the  bottle 
down  after  taking  a  drink. 

When  we  got  to  Portland,  Wright  was  feeling 
"about  right"  and  the  bottle  was  empty.  As  he 
divided  the  money  with  me  he  cried:  "Let  her  run 
on  three  wheels."  It  was  the  last  time  he  divided 
any  of  the  company's  money  with  a  porter.  When 
he  stepped  into  the  office  at  the  end  of  that  trip  he 
was  told  that  they  "had  a  message  from  Ager"  the 
assistant  general  superintendent,  concerning  him. 
Every  employee  knew  that  a  message  from  this  in 
dividual  meant  "off  goes  the  bean."  I  never  saw 
Wright  afterwards,  for  they  "got"  me  too  that  trip. 

The  little  Irish  conductor,  who  was  considered 
the  shrewdest  of  the  shrewd,  had  run  a  long  time 
and  "knocked  down"  a  great  amount  of  the  com 
pany's  money  but  the  system  of  "spotting"  event 
ually  got  him  as  it  does  the  best  of  them. 

I  now  had  two  thousand,  three  hundred  and 
forty  dollars  in  the  bank.  The  odd  forty  I  drew 
out,  and  left  the  remainder  on  deposit,  packed 
my  trunk  and  bid  farewell  to  Armour  Avenue  and 
Chicago's  Black  Belt  with  its  beer  cans,  drunken 
men  and  women,  and  turned  my  face  westward  with 
the  spirit  of  Horace  Greely  before  and  his  words 
"Go  west,  young  man,  and  grow  up  with  the  coun 
try"  ringing  in  my  ears.  So  westward  I  journeyed 
to  the  land  of  raw  material,  which  my  dreams  had 
pictured  to  me  as  the  land  of  real  beginning,  and 
where  I  was  soon  to  learn  more  than  a  mere  ob 
server  ever  could  by  living  in  the  realm  of  a  great 
city. 


48  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  V 

"GO  WEST  YOUNG  MAN  AND  GROW  UP  WITH  THE 
COUNTRY" 

]N  justice  to  the  many  thousands  of  P 

—  n  porters,  as  well  as  many  conductors, 
who  were  in  the  habit  of  retaining  the 
company's  money,  let  it  be  said  that 
they  are  not  the  hungry  thieves  and  dishonest 
rogues  the  general  public  might  think  them  to  be, 
dishonest  as  their  conduct  may  seem  to  be.  They 
were  victims  of  a  vicious  system  built  up  and  winked 
at  by  the  company  itself. 

Before  the  day  of  the  Inter-State  Commerce 
Commission  and  anti-pass  and  two-cent-per-mile 
legislation,  and  when  passengers  paid  cash  fares,  it 
was  a  matter  of  tradition  with  the  conductors  to 
knockdown,  and  nothing  was  said,  although  the 
conductors,  as  now,  were  fairly  well  paid  and  the 
company  fully  expected  to  lose  some  of  the  cash 
fares. 

In  the  case  of  the  porters,  however,  the  circum 
stances  are  far  more  mitigating.  At  the  time  I  was 
with  the  company  there  were,  in  round  numbers, 
eight  thousand  porters  in  the  service  on  tourist 
and  standard  sleepers  who  were  receiving  from  a 
minimum  of  twenty-five  dollars  to  not  to  exceed 
forty  dollars  per  month,  depending  on  length  and 
desirability  of  service.  Out  of  this  he  must  furnish, 
for  the  first  ten  years,  his  own  uniforms  and  cap, 
consisting  of  summer  and  winter  suits  at  twenty 
and  twenty-two  dollars  respectively.  After  ten 


TheConquest  49 

years  of  continuous  service  these  things  are  furnished 
by  the  company.  Then  there  is  the  board,  lodging 
and  laundry  expense.  Trainmen  are  allowed  from 
fifty  to  sixty  per  cent  off  of  the  regular  bill  of  fare, 
and  at  this  price  most  any  kind  of  a  meal  in  an  a- 
la-carte  diner  comes  to  forty  and  fifty  cents.  Be 
sides,  the  waiters  expect  tips  from  the  crew  as 
well  as  from  the  passengers  and  make  it  more  un 
comfortable  for  them  if  they  do  not  receive  it  than 
they  usually  do  for  the  passenger. 

I  kept  an  accurate  itemized  account  of  my  living 
expenses,  including  six  dollars  per  month  for  a  room 
in  Chicago,  and  economize  as  I  would,  making  one 
uniform  and  cap  last  a  whole  year,  I  could  not  get 
the  monthly  expense  below  forty  dollars — fifteen 
dollars  more  than  my  salary,  and  surely  the  com 
pany  must  have  known  it  and  condoned  any  reason 
able  amount  of  "knock  down"  on  the  side  to  make 
up  the  deficiency  in  salary.  The  porter's  "knock 
down"  usually  coming  through  the  sympathy,  good 
will  and  unwritten  law  of  "knocking  down" — that 
the  conductor  divide  equally  with  the  porter.  All 
of  which,  however,  is  now  fast  becoming  a  thing  of 
the  past,  owing  to  recent  legislation,  investigations 
and  strict  regulation  of  common  carriers  by  Congress 
and  the  various  laws  of  the  states  of  the  Union, 
with  the  added  result  that  conductors'  wages  have 
increased  accordingly.  Few  conductors  today  are 
foolish  enough  to  jeopardize  their  positions  by  in 
dulging  in  the  old  practice,  and  it  leaves  the  porters 
in  a  sorry  plight  indeed. 

All  in  all,  the  system,  while  deceptive  and  dis 
honest  on  its  face,  was  for  a  time  a  tolerated  evil? 

4 


50  The    Conquest 

apparently  sanctioned  by  the  company  and  became 
a  veritable  disease  among  the  colored  employees 
who,  without  exception,  received  and  kept  the  com 
pany's  money  without  a  single  qualm  of  conscience. 
It  was  a  part  of  their  duty  to  make  the  job  pay 
something  more  than  a  part  of  their  living  expenses. 
Ignorant  as  many  of  the  porters  were,  most  of  them 
knew  that  from  the  enormous  profits  made  that  the 
company  could  and  should  have  paid  them  better 
wages,  and  I  am  sure  that  if  they  received  living 
wages  for  their  services  it  would  have  a  great  moral 
izing  effect  on  that  feature  of  the  service,  and  greatly 
add  to  the  comfort  of  the  traveling  public. 

However,  the  greedy  and  inhuman  attitude  of 
this  monoply  toward  its  colored  employees  has  just 
the  opposite  effect,  and  is  demoralizing  indeed. 
Thousands  of  black  porters  continue  to  give  their 
services  in  return  for  starvation  wages  and  are 
compelled  to  graft  the  company  and  the  people 
for  a  living. 

Shortly  before  my  cessation  of  activities  in  con 
nection  with  the  P n  company  it  had  a  capi 
talization  of  ninety-five  million  dollars,  paying  eight 
per  cent  dividend  annually,  and  about  two  years 
after  I  was  compelled  to  quit,  it  paid  its  stock 
holders  a  thirty-five  million  dollar  surplus  which 
had  accumulated    in  five  years.    Just  recently  a 
"melon  was  cut"  of  about  a  like  amount  and  over 
eight  thousand  colored  porters  helped  to  accumulate 
it,  at  from  twenty-five  to  forty  dollars  per  month. 
A  wonder  it  is  that  their  condition  does  not  breed 
such  actual  dishonesty  and  deception  that* society 
would  be  forced  to  take  notice  of  it,  and  the  traveling 


The    Conquest  51 

public  should  be  thankful  for  the  attentive  services 
given  under  these  near-slave  conditions.  As  for 
myself,  the  reader  has  seen  how  I  made  it  "pay" 
and  I  have  no  apologies  or  regrets  to  offer.  When 
that  final  reckoning  comes,  I  am  sure  the  angel 
clerk  will  pass  all  porters  against  whom  nothing 
more  serious  appears  than  what  I  have  heretofore 
related. 

While  I  was  considered  very  fortunate  by  my 
fellow  employees,  the  whole  thing  filled  me  with 
disgust.  I  suffered  from  a  nervous  worry  and  fear 
of  losing  my  position  all  the  time,  and  really  felt 
relieved  when  the  end  came  and  I  was  free  to  pursue 
a  more  commendable  occupation. 

In  going  out  of  the  Superintendent's  office  on  my 
farewell  leave,  the  several  opportunities  I  had  seen 

during  my  experience  with  the  P n  company 

loomed  up  and  marched  in  dress  parade  before  me; 
the  conditions  of  the  Snake  River  valley  and  the 
constructiveness  of  the  people  who  had  turned  the 
alkali  desert  into  valuable  farms  worth  from  fifty 
to  five  hundred  dollars  an  acre,  thrilled  me  so  that 
I  had  no  misgivings  for  the  future.  But  Destiny 
had  other  fields  in  view  for  me  and  did  not  send  me 
to  that  land  of  Eden  of  which  I  had  become  so  fond, 
in  quest  of  fortune.  Such  a  variety  of  scenes  was 
surely  an  incentive  to  serious  thought. 

What  was  termed  inquisitiveness  at  home  brought 
me  a  world  of  information  abroad.  This  inquisitive- 
ness,  combined  with  the  observation  afforded  by 
such  runs  as  those  to  Portland  and  around  the  circle 
and,  perhaps,  coming  back  by  Washington  D.  C., 
gave  practical  knowledge.  Often  western  sheep- 


52  The    Conquest 

men,  who  were  ready  talkers,  returning  on  my  car 
from  taking  a  shipment  to  Chicago,  gave  me  some 
idea  of  farming  and  sheepraising.  I  remember 
thinking  that  Iowa  would  be  a  fine  place  to  own  a 
farm,  but  quickly  gave  up  any  further  thought  of 
owning  one  there  myself.  A  farmer  from  Tama, 
that  state,  gave  me  the  information.  He  was  a 

beautiful  decoration  for  a  P n  berth  and 

a  neatly  made  bed  with  three  sheets,  and  I  do  not 
know  what  possessed  him  to  ever  take  a  sleeper, 
for  he  slept  little  that  night — I  am  sure.  The  next 
morning  about  five  o'clock,  while  gathering  and 
shining  shoes,  I  could  not  find  his,  and  being  curious, 
I  peeped  into  his  berth.  What  I  saw  made  me  laugh, 
indeed.  There  he  lay,  all  bundled  into  his  bed  in  his 
big  fur  overcoat  and  shoes  on,  just  as  he  came  into 
the  car  the  evening  before.  He  was  awake  and 
looked  so  uncomfortable  that  I  suggested  that  he 
get  up  if  he  wasn't  sleepy.  "What  say?"  he  an 
swered,  leaning  over  and  sticking  his  head  out  of 
the  berth  as  though  afraid  someone  would  grab 
him. 

As  this  class  of  farmers  like  to  talk,  and  usually 
in  loud  tones,  I  led  him  into  the  smoking  room  as 
soon  as  he  jumped  out  of  his  berth,  to  keep  him  from 
annoying  other  passengers.  Here  he  washed  his 
face,  still  keeping  his  coat  on. 

"Remove  your  coat,"  I  suggested, "and  you  will 
be  more  comfortable." 

"You  bet,"  he  said  taking  his  coat  off  and  sitting 
on  it.  Lighting  his  pipe,  he  began  talking  and  I 
immediately  inquired  of  him  how  much  land  he 
owned. 


The    Conquest  53 

He  answered  that  he  owned  a  section.  "Gee! 
but  that  is  a  lot  of  land/'  I  exclaimed,  getting  in 
terested,  "and  what  is  it  worth  an  acre?" 

"The  last  quarter  I  bought  I  paid  eighty  dollars 
an  acre"  he  returned.  That  is  over  thirteen  thou 
sand  and  I  could  plainly  see  that  my  little  two  thou 
sand  dollar  bank  account  wouldn't  go  very  far  in 
Iowa  when  it  came  to  buying  land.  That  was  nine 
years  ago  and  the  same  land  today  will  sell  around 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  an  acre,  and  the  "end 
is  not  yet." 

I  concluded  on  one  thing,  and  that  was,  if  one 
whose  capital  was  under  eight  or  ten  thousand  dol 
lars,  desired  to  own  a  good  farm  in  the  great  central 
west  he  must  go  where  the  land  was  new  or  raw  and 
undeveloped.  He  must  begin  with  the  beginning 
and  develop  with  the  development  of  the  country. 
By  the  proper  and  accepted  methods  of  conserva 
tion  of  the  natural  resources  and  close  application 
to  his  work,  his  chances  for  success  are  good. 

When  I  finally  reached  this  conclusion  I  began 
searching  for  a  suitable  location  in  which  to  try  my 
fortune  in  the  harrowing  of  the  soil. 


54  TheConquest 

CHAPTER  VI 

"AND  WHERE  is  ORISTOWN?"  THE  TOWN  ON  THE 
MISSOURI 

came  a  few  days  later  in  a  restaurant 
in  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  when  I  heard 
the  waiters,  one  white  man  and  the  other 
colored,  saying,  "I'm  going  to  Oris 
town."  "And  where  is  Oristown?"  I  inquired, 
taking  a  stool  and  scrutinizing  the  bill  of  fare. 
"Oristown/'  the  white  man  spoke  up,  drawing  away 
at  a  pipe  which  gave  him  the  appearance  of  being 
anything  from  a  rover  to  a  freight  brakeman,  "is 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  northwest  of 
here  in  southern  South  Dakota,  on  the  edge  of 
the  Little  Crow  Reservation,  to  be  opened  this 
summer."  This  is  not  the  right  name,  but  the 
name  of  an  Indian  chief  living  near  where  this  is 
written. 

"Oristown  is  the  present  terminus  of  the  C.  &  R. 
W.  Ry.  and  he  went  on  to  tell  me  that  the  land  in 
part  was  valuable,  while  some  portions  were  no 
better  than  Western  Nebraska.  A  part  of  the 
Reservation  was  to  be  opened  to  settlement  by 
lottery  that  summer  and  the  registration  was  to 
take  place  in  July.  It  was  now  April.  "And  the 
registration  is  to  come  off  at  Oristown?"  I  finished 
for  him  with  a  question.  "Yes,"  he  assented. 

At  Omaha  the  following  day  I  chanced  to  meet 
two  surveyors  who  had  been  sent  out  to  the  reserva 
tion  from  Washington,  D.  C.  and  who  told  me  to 
write  to  the  Department  of  the  Interior  for  infor- 


The    Conquest  55 

mation  regarding  the  opening,  the  lay  of  the  land, 
quality  of  the  soil,  rainfall,  etc.  I  did  as  they  sug 
gested  and  the  pamphlets  received  stated  that  the 
land  to  be  opened  was  a  deep  black  loam,  with  clay 
subsoil,  and  the  rainfall  in  this  section  averaged 
twenty-eight  inches  the  last  five  years.  I  knew  that 
Iowa  had  about  thirty  inches  and  most  of  the  time 
was  too  wet,  so  concluded  here  at  last  was  the  place 
to  go.  This  suited  me  better  than  any  of  the  states 
or  projects  I  had  previously  looked  into,  besides,  I 
knew  more  about  the  mode  of  farming  employed  in 
that  section  of  the  country,  it  being  somewhat 
similar  to  that  in  Southern  Illinois. 

On  the  morning  of  July  fifth,  at  U.  P.  Transfer, 
Iowa,  I  took  a  train  over  the  C.  P.  &  St.  L.,  which 
carried  me  to  a  certain  town  on  the  Missouri  in 
South  Dakota.  I  did  not  go  to  Oristown  to  register 
as  I  had  intended  but  went  to  the  town  referred  to, 
which  had  been  designated  as  a  registration  point 
also.  I  was  told  by  people  who  were  "hitting"  in 
the  same  direction  and  for  the  same  purpose,  that 
Oristown  was  crowded  and  lawless,  with  no  place 
to  sleep,  and  was  overrun  with  tin-horn  gamblers. 
It  would  be  much  better  to  go  to  the  larger  town  on 
the  Missouri,  where  better  hotel  accommodation 
and  other  conveniences  could  be  had.  So  I  bought 
a  ticket  to  Johnstown,  where  I  arrived  late  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day.  There  was  a  large  crowd, 
which  soon  found  its  way  to  the  main  street,  where 
numerous  booths  and  offices  were  set  up,  with  a 
notary  in  each  to  accept  applications  for  the  draw 
ing.  This  consisted  of  taking  oath  that  one  was  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  twenty-one  years  of 


56  The    Conquest 

of  age  or  over.  The  head  of  a  family,  a  widow,  or 
any  woman  upon  whom  fell  the  support  of  a  family, 
was  also  accepted.  No  person,  however,  owning 
over  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  or  who  had 
ever  had  a  homestead  before,  could  apply.  The 
application  was  then  enclosed  in  an  envelope  and 
directed  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  opening. 

After  all  the  applications  had  been  taken,  they 
were  thoroughly  mixed  and  shuffled  together.  Then 
a  blindfolded  child  was  directed  to  draw  one  from 
the  pile,  which  became  number  one  in  the  opening. 
The  lucky  person  whose  oath  was  contained  in 
such  envelope  was  given  the  choice  of  all  the  land 
thrown  open  for  settlement.  Then  another  en 
velope  was  drawn  and  that  person  was  given  the 
second  choice,  and  so  on  until  they  were  all  drawn. 

This  system  was  an  out  and  out  lottery,  but  gave 
each  and  every  applicant  an  equal  chance  to  draw 
a  claim,  but  guaranteed  none.  Years  before,  land 
openings  were  conducted  in  a  different  manner. 
The  applicants  were  held  back  of  a  line  until  a  signal 
was  given  and  then  a  general  rush  was  made  for 
the  locations  and  settlement  rights  on  the  land. 
This  worked  fairly  well  at  first  but  there  grew  to  be 
more  applicants  than  land,  and  two  or  more  persons 
often  located  on  the  same  piece  of  land  and  this 
brought  about  expensive  litigation  and  annoying 
disputes  and  sometimes  even  murder,  over  the 
settlement.  This  was  finally  abolished  in  favor 
of  the  lottery  system,  which  was  at  least  safer  and 
more  profitable  to  the  railroads  that  were  fortunate 
enough  to  have  a  line  to  one  or  more  of  the  registra 
tion  points. 


Became  number  one  in  the  opening,  (page  56) 


TheConquest  57 

At  Johnstown,  people  from  every  part  of  the 
United  States,  of  all  ages  and  descriptions,  gathered 
in  crowded  masses,  the  greater  part  of  them  being 
from  Illinois,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Minnesota,  North 
Dakota,  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  When  I  started 
for  the  registration  I  was  under  the  impression  that 
only  a  few  people  would  register,  probably  four  or 
five  thousand,  and  as  there  were  twenty-four 
hundred  homesteads  I  had  no  other  thought  than 
I  would  draw  and  later  file  on  a  quarter  section. 
Imagine  my  consternation  when  at  the  end  of  the 
first  day  the  registration  numbered  ten  thousand. 
A  colored  farmer  in  Kansas  had  asked  me  to  keep 
him  posted  in  regard  to  the  opening.  He  also 
thought  of  coming  up  and  registering  when  he  had 
completed  his  harvest.  When  the  throngs  of  people 
began  pouring  in  from  the  three  railroads  into 
Johnstown  (and  there  were  two  other  points  of 
registration  besides)  I  saw  my  chances  of  drawing 
a  claim  dwindling,  from  one  to  two,  to  one  to  ten, 
fifteen  and  twenty  and  maybe  more.  After  three 
days  in  Johnstown  I  wrote  my  friend  and  told  him 
I  believed  there  would  be  fully  thirty  thousand 
people  apply  for  the  twenty-four  hundred  claims. 
The  fifth  day  I  wrote  there  would  be  fifty  thousand. 
After  a  week  I  wrote  there  would  be  seventy-five 
thousand  register,  that  it  was  useless  to  expect  to 
draw  and  I  was  leaving  for  Kansas  to  visit  my  par 
ents.  When  the  registration  was  over  I  read  in  a 
Kansas  City  paper  that  one  hundred  and  seven 
thousand  persons  had  registered,  making  the  chance 
of  drawing  one  to  forty-four. 

Received  a  card  soon  after  from  the  Superinten- 


58  TheConquest 

dent  of  the  opening,  which  read  that  my  number 
was  6504,  and  as  the  number  of  claims  was  approxi 
mately  twenty-four  hundred,  my  number  was  too 
high  to  be  reached  before  the  land  should  all  be 
taken.  I  think  it  was  the  same  day  I  lost  fifty- 
five  dollars  out  of  my  pocket.  This,  combined 
with  my  disappointment  in  not  drawing  a  piece 
of  land,  gave  me  a  grouch  and  I  lit  out  for  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  at  St.  Louis  with 

the  intention  of  again  getting  into  the    P n 

service  for  a  time. 

Of  ttimes  porters  who  had  been  discharged  went 
to  another  city,  changed  their  names,  furnished 
a  different  set  of  references  and  got  back  to  work 
for  the  same  company.  Now  if  they  happened  to 
be  on  a  car  that  took  them  into  the  district  from 
which  they  were  discharged,  and  before  the  same 
officials,  who  of  course  recognized  them,  they  were 
promptly  reported  and  again  discharged.  I  pon 
dered  over  the  situation  and  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  I  would  not  attempt  such  deception,  but  avoid 
being  sent  back  to  the  Chicago  Western  District. 
I  was  at  a  greater  disadvantage  than  Johnson, 
Smith,  Jackson,  or  a  number  of  other  common  names, 
by  having  the  odd  French  name  that  had  always 
to  be  spelled  slowly  to  a  conductor,  or  any  one  else 
who  had  occasion  to  know  me.  Out  of  curiosity 
I  had  once  looked  in  a  Chicago  Directory.  Of 
some  two  million  names  there  were  just  two  others 
with  the  same  name.  But  on  the  other  hand  it 
was  much  easier  to  avoid  the  Chicago  Western 
District,  or  at  least  Mr.  Miltzow's  office  and  by 
keeping  my  own  name,  assume  that  I  had  never  been 


The    Conquest  59 

discharged,  than  it  was  to  go  into  a  half  a  dozen 
other  districts  with  a  new  name  and  avoid  being 
recognized.  Arriving  at  this  decision,  I  approached 
the  St.  Louis  office,  presented  my  references  which 
had  been  furnished  by  other  M— pis  business  men, 
and  was  accepted.  After  I  had  been  sent  out  with 
a  porter,  who  had  been  running  three  months,  to 
show  me  how  to  run  a  car,  I  was  immediately  put  to 
work.  I  learned  in  two  trips,  according  to  the  report 
my  tutor  handed  to  the  chief  clerk,  and  by  chance 
fell  into  one  of  the  best  runs  to  New  York  on  one  of 
the  limited  trains  during  the  fair.  There  was  not 
much  knocking  down  on  this  run,  but  the  tips, 
including  the  salary  were  good  for  three  hundred 
dollars  per  month.  I  ran  on  this  from  September 
first  to  October  fourth  and  saved  three  hundred 
dollars.  I  had  not  given  up  getting  a  Dakota  Home 
stead,  for  while  I  was  there  during  the  summer  I 
learned  if  I  did  not  draw  a  number  I  could  buy  a 
relinquishment. 

This  relates  to  the  purchasing  of  a  relinquish 
ment: 

An  entryman  has  the  right  at  any  time  to  re 
linquish  back  to  the  United  States  all  his  right,  title, 
and  interest  to  and  in  the  land  covered  by  his  filing. 
The  land  is  then  open  to  entry. 

A  claimholder  who  has  filed  on  a  quarter  of  land 
will  have  plenty  of  opportunity  to  relinquish  his 
claim,  for  a  cash  consideration,  so  that  another 
party  may  get  a  filing  on  it.  This  is  called  buying 
or  selling  a  relinquishment.  The  amount  of  the 
consideration  varies  with  quality  of  the  land,  and 
the  eagerness  of  the  buyer  or  seller,  as  the  case  may  be. 


60  TheConquest 

Relinquishments  are  the  largest  stock  in  trade 
of  all  the  real  estate  dealers,  in  a  new  country. 
Besides,  everybody  from  the  bank  president  down 
to  the  humble  dish  washer  in  the  hotel,  or  the  chore 
boy  in  the  livery,  the  ministers  not  omitted,  would, 
with  guarded  secrecy,  confide  in  you  of  some  choice 
relinquishment  that  could  be  had  at  a  very  low 
figure  compared  with  what  it  was  really  worth. 


The    Conquest  61 

CHAPTER  VII 

ORISTOWN,   THE   "LITTLE  CROW"   RESERVATION 

HEN  I  left  St.  Louis  on  the  night  of 
October  fourth  I  headed  for  Oristown  to 
buy  someone's  relinquishment.  I  had 
two  thousand,  five  hundred  dollars.  From 
Omaha  the  journey  was  made  on  the  C.  &  R.  W.'s 
one  train  a  day  that  during  these  times  was  loaded 
from  end  to  end,  with  everybody  discussing  the 
Little  Crow  and  the  buying  of  relinquishments. 
I  was  the  only  negro  on  the  train  and  an  object  of 
many  inquiries  as  to  where  I  was  going.  Some  of 
those  whom  I  told  that  I  was  going  to  buy  a  re 
linquishment  seemingly  regarded  it  as  a  joke,  judg 
ing  from  the  meaning  glances  cast  at  those  nearest 
them. 

An  incident  occurred  when  I  arrived  at  Oristown 
which  is  yet  considered  a  good  joke  on  a  real  estate 
man  then  located  there,  by  the  name  of  Keeler, 
who  was  also  the  United  States  Commissioner. 
He  could  not  only  sell  me  a  relinquishment,  but 
could  also  take  my  filing.  I  had  a  talk  with  Keeler, 
but  as  he  did  not  encourage  me  in  my  plan  to  make 
a  purchase  I  went  to  another  firm,  a  young  lawyer 
and  a  fellow  by  the  name  of  Slater,  who  ran  a  livery 
barn,  around  the  corner.  Watkins,  the  lawyer, 
impressed  me  as  having  more  ambition  than  prac 
tical  business  qualities.  However,  Slater  took  the 
matter  up  and  agreed  to  take  me  over  the  reserva 
tion  and  show  me  some  good  claims.  If  I  bought, 
the  drive  was  gratis,  if  not  four  dollars  per  day,  and 
I  accepted  his  proposition. 


62  The    Conquest 

After  we  had  driven  a  few  miles  he  told  me  Keeler 
had  said  to  him  that  he  was  a  fool  to  waste  his 
time  hauling  a  d —  nigger  around  over  the  reserva 
tion;   that  I  didn't  have  any  money  and  was  just 
"stalling."     I  flushed  angrily,  and  said  "Show  me 
what  I  want  and  I  will  produce  the  money.    What 
I  want  is  something  near  the  west  end  of  the  county. 
You  say  the  relinquishments  are  cheaper  there  and 
the  soil  is  richer.     I  don't  want  big  hills  or  rocks 
nor  anything  I  can't  farm,  but  I  want  a  nice  level 
or  gently  rolling  quarter  section  of  prairie  near 
some  town  to  be,  that  has  prospects  of  getting  the 
railroad  when  it  is  extended  west  from  Oristown." 
By  this  time  we  had  covered  the  three  miles  be 
tween  Oristown  and  the  reservation  line,  and  had 
entered  the  newly  opened  section  which  stretched 
for  thirty  miles  to  the  west.    As  we  drove  on  I 
became  attracted  by  the  long  grass,  now  dead,  which 
was  of  a  brownish  hue  and  as  I  gazed  over  the  miles 
of  it  lying  like  a  mighty  carpet  I  could  seem  to  feel 
the  magnitude  of  the  development  and  industry 
that  would  some  day  replace  this  state  of  wildness. 
To  the  Northeast  the  Missouri  River  wound  its 
way,  into  which  empties  the  Whetstone  Creek,  the 
breaks  of  which  resembled  miniature  mountains, 
falling  abruptly,  then  rising  to  a  point  where  the 
dark  shale  sides  glistened  in  the  sunlight.     It  was 
my  longest  drive  in  a  buggy.    We  could  go  for 
perhaps  three  or  four  miles  on  a  table-like  plateau, 
then  drop  suddenly  into  small  canyon-like  ditches 
and  rise  abruptly  to  the  other  side.    After  driving 
about  fifteen  miles  we  came  to  the  town,  as  they 
called  it,  but  I  would  have  said  village  of  Hedrick 
I 


The    Conquest  63 

— a  collection  of  frame  shacks  with  one  or  two  houses, 
many  roughly  constructed  sod  buildings,  the  long 
brown  grass  hanging  from  between  the  sod,  giving 
it  a  frizzled  appearance.  Here  we  listened  to  a 
few  boosters  and  mountebanks  whose  rustic  elo 
quence  was  no  doubt  intended  to  give  the  unwary 
the  impression  that  they  were  on  the  site  of  the  com 
ing  metropolis  of  the  west.  A  county-seat  battle 
was  to  be  fought  the  next  month  and  the  few  citizens 
of  the  sixty  days  declared  they  would  wrest  it  from 
Fairview,  the  present  county  seat  situated  in  the 
extreme  east  end  of  the  county,  if  it  cost  them  a 
million  dollars,  or  one-half  of  all  they  were  worth. 
They  boasted  of  Hedrick's  prospects,  sweeping  their 
arms  around  in  eloquent  gestures  in  alluding  to  the 
territory  tributary  to  the  town,  as  though  half  the 
universe  were  Hedrick  territory. 

Nine  miles  northwest,  where  the  land  was  very 
sandy  and  full  of  pits,  into  which  the  buggy  wheels 
dropped  with  a  grinding  sound,  and  where  magnesia 
rock  cropped  out  of  the  soil,  was  another  budding 
town  by  the  name  of  Kirk.  The  few  prospective 
citizens  of  this  burg  were  not  so  enthusiastic  as 
those  in  Hedrick  and  when  I  asked  one  why  they 
located  the  town  in  such  a  sandy  country  he  opened 
up  with  a  snort  about  some  pinheaded  engineer  for 
the  "guvment"  who  didn't  know  enough  to  jump 
straight  up  "a  locating  the  town  in  such  an  all 
fired  sandy  place";  but  he  concluded  with  a  com 
pliment,  that  plenty  of  good  water  could  be  found 
at  from  fifteen  to  fifty  feet. 

This  sandy  land  continued  some  three  miles  west 
and  we  often  found  springs  along  the  streams. 


64  The    Conquest 

After  ascending  an  unusually  steep  hill,  we  came 
upon  a  plateau  where  the  grass,  the  soil,  and  the 
lay  of  the  land,  were  entirely  different  from  any  we 
had  as  yet  seen.  I  was  struck  by  the  beauty  of  the 
scenery  and  it  seemed  to  charm  and  bring  me  out 
of  the  spirit  of  depression  the  sandy  stretch  brought 
upon  me.  Stretching  for  miles  to  the  northwest 
and  to  the  south,  the  land  would  rise  in  a  gentle 
slope  to  a  hog  back,  and  as  gently  slope  away  to  a 
draw,  which  drained  to  the  south.  Here  the  small 
streams  emptied  into  a  larger  one,  winding  along 
like  a  snake's  track,  and  thickly  wooded  with  a 
growth  of  small  hardwood  timber.  It  was  beautiful. 
From  each  side  the  land  rose  gently  like  huge  wings, 
and  spread  away  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
The  driver  brought  me  back  to  earth,  after  a  mile 
of  such  fascinating  observations,  and  pointing  to 
the  north,  said:  "There  lays  one  of  the  claims." 
I  was  carried  away  by  the  first  sight  of  it.  The  land 
appeared  to  slope  from  a  point,  or  table,  and  to  the 
north  of  that  was  a  small  draw,  with  water.  We 
rode  along  the  south  side  and  on  coming  upon  a 
slight  raise,  which  he  informed  me  was  the  highest 
part  of  the  place,  we  found  a  square  white  stone 
set  equally  distant  from  four  small  holes,  four  or 
five  feet  apart.  On  one  side  of  the  stone  was  in 
scribed  a  row  of  letters  which  ran  like  this,  SWC, 
SWQ,  Sec.  29-97-72  W.  5th  P.  M.,  and  on  the  other 
sides  were  some  other  letters  similar  to  these. 
"What  does  all  that  mean?"  I  asked.  He  said 
the  letters  were  initials  describing  the  land  and 
reading  from  the  side  next  to  the  place  we  had  come 
to  see  it,  read:  "The  southwest  corner  of  the  south- 


TheConquest  65 

west  quarter  of  section  twenty-nine,  township 
ninety-seven,  and  range  seventy-two,  west  of  the 
fifth  principal  meridian." 

When  we  got  back  to  Oristown  I  concluded  I 
wanted  the  place  and  dreamed  of  it  that  night.  It 
had  been  drawn  by  a  girl  who  lived  with  her  parents 
across  the  Missouri.  To  see  her,  we  had  to  drive 
to  their  home,  and  here  a  disagreement  arose,  which 
for  a  time  threatened  to  cause  a  split.  I  had  been 
so  enthusiastic  over  the  place,  that  Slater  figured  on 
a  handsome  commission,  but  I  had  been  making 
inquiries  in  Oristown,  and  found  I  could  buy  re- 
linquishments  much  cheaper  than  I  had  anticipated. 
I  had  expected  the  price  to  be  about  one  thousand, 
eight  hundred  dollars  and  came  prepared  to  pay 
that  much,  but  was  advised  to  pay  not  over  five 
hundred  dollars  for  land  as  far  west  as  the  town  of 
Megory,  which  was  only  four  miles  northwest  of 
the  place  I  was  now  dickering  to  buy.  We  had 
agreed  to  give  the  girl  three  hundred  and  seventy-five 
dollars,  and  I  had  partly  agreed  to  give  Slater  two 
hundred  dollars  commission.  However,  I  decided 
this  was  too  much,  and  told  him  I  would  give  him 
only  seventy-five  dollars.  He  was  in  for  going 
right  back  to  Oristown  and  calling  the  deal  off,  but 
when  he  figured  up  that  two  and  a  half  day's  driving 
would  amount  to  only  ten  dollars,  he  offered  to  take 
one  hundred  dollars.  But  I  was  obstinate  and  held 
out  for  seventy-five  dollars,  finally  giving  him 
eighty  dollars,  and  in  due  time  became  the  proud 
owner  of  a  Little  Crow  homestead. 

All  this  time  I  had  been  writing  to  Jessie.  I  had 
written  first  while  I  was  in  Eaton,  and  she  had 
5 


66  The    Conquest 

answered  in  the  same  demure  manner  in  which  she 
had  received  me  at  our  first  meeting,  and  had  con 
tinued  answering  the  letters  I  had  written  from  all 
parts  of  the  continent,  in  much  the  same  way. 
For  a  time  I  had  quit  writing,  for  I  felt  that  she  was 
really  too  young  and  not  taking  me  seriously  enough, 
but  after  a  month,  my  sister  wrote  me,  asking  why 
I  did  not  write  to  Jessie;  that  she  asked  about  me 
every  day.  This  inspired  me  with  a  new  interest  and 
I  began  writing  again. 

I  wrote  her  in  glowing  terms  all  about  my  advent 
in  Dakota,  and  as  she  was  of  a  reserved  disposition, 
I  always  asked  her  opinion  as  to  whether  she  thought 
it  a  sensible  move.  I  wanted  to  hear  her  say  some 
thing  more  than:  "I  was  at  a  cantata  last  evening 
and  had  a  nice  time",  and  so  on.  Furthermore, 
I  was  skeptical.  I  knew  that  a  great  many  colored 
people  considered  farming  a  deprivation  of  all  things 
essential  to  a  good  time.  In  fact,  to  have  a  good 
time,  was  the  first  thing  to  be  considered,  and  every 
thing  else  was  secondary.  Jessie,  however,  was  not 
of  this  kind.  She  wrote  me  a  letter  that  surprised 
me,  stating,  among  other  things,  that  she  was  seven 
teen  and  in  her  senior  year  high  school.  That  she 
thought  I  was  grand  and  noble,  as  well  as  practical, 
and  was  sorry  she  couldn't  find  words  to  tell  me 
all  she  felt,  but  that  which  satisfied  me  suited  her 
also.  I  was  delighted  with  her  answer  and  wrote 
a  cheerful  letter  in  return,  saying  I  would  come  to 
see  her,  Christmas. 


The    Conquest  67 

CHAPTER  VIII 

FAR  DOWN  THE  PACIFIC — THE  PROPOSAL 

FTER  the  presidential  election  of  that 
year  I  went  to  South  America  with  a 
special  party,  consisting  mostly  of  New 
York  capitalists  and  millionaires.  We 
traveled  through  the  southwest,  crossing  the  Rio 
Grand  at  Eagle  Pass,  and  on  south  by  the  way  of 
Toreon,  Zacatecas,  Aguas  Calientes,  Guadalajara, 
Puebla,  Tehauntepec  and  to  the  southwest  coast, 
sailing  from  Salina  Cruz  down  the  Pacific  to  Val 
paraiso,  Chile,  going  inland  to  Santiago,  thence 
over  the  Trans-Andean  railway  across  the  Andes, 
and  onward  to  the  western  plateau  of  Argentina. 

Arriving  at  the  new  city  of  Mendoza,  we  visited 
the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city  of  the  same  name. 
Here,  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  on  a 
Sunday  morning,  when  a  large  part  of  the  people 
were  at  church,  an  earthquake  shook  the  city. 
When  it  passed,  it  left  bitter  ruin  in  its  wake,  the 
only  part  that  stood  intact  being  one  wall  of  the 
church.  Of  a  population  of  thirteen  thousand, 
only  sixteen  hundred  persons  escaped  alive.  The 
city  was  rebuilt  later,  and  at  the  time  we  were  there 
it  was  a  beautiful  place  of  about  twenty-five  thou 
sand  population.  At  this  place  a  report  of  bubonic 
plague,  in  Brazil,  reached  us.  The  party  became 
frightened  and  beat  it  in  post  haste  back  to  Valpa 
raiso,  setting  sail  immediately  for  Salina  Cruz, 
and  spent  the  time  that  was  scheduled  for  a  tour 
of  Argentina,  in  snoopin'  around  the  land  of  the 


68  TheConquest 

Montezumas.  This  is  the  American  center  of 
Catholic  Churches;  the  home  of  many  gaudy 
Spanish  women  and  begging  peons;  where  the  people, 
the  laws,  and  the  customs,  are  two  hundred  years 
behind  those  of  the  United  States.  Still,  I  thought 
Mexico  very  beautiful,  as  well  as  of  historical  in 
terest. 

One  day  we  journeyed  far  into  the  highlands, 
where  lay  the  ancient  Mexican  city  of  Cuernavaca, 
the  one  time  summer  home  of  America's  only  Em- 
perior,  Maximilian.  From  there  we  went  to  Puebla, 
where  we  saw  the  old  Cathedral  which  was  begun 
in  1518,  and  which  at  that  time  was  said  to  be  the 
second  largest  in  the  world.  We  saw  San  Louis 
Potosi,  and  Monterey,  and  returned  by  the  way  of 
Loredo,  Texas.  I  became  well  enough  acquainted 
with  the  liberal  millionaires  and  so  useful  in  serving 
their  families  that  I  made  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  dollars  on  the  trip,  besides  bringing  back  so 
many  gifts  and  curiosities  of  all  kinds  that  I  had 
enough  to  divide  up  with  a  good  many  of  my  friends. 

Flushed  with  prosperity  and  success  in  my  under 
takings  since  leaving  Southern  Illinois  less  than  three 
years  before,  I  went  to  M — boro  to  see  my  sister 
and  to  see  whether  Miss  Rooks  had  grown  any. 
I  was  received  as  a  personage  of  much  importance 
among  the  colored  people  of  the  town,  who  were 
about  the  same  kind  that  lived  in  M — pis;  not 
very  progressive,  excepting  with  their  tongues 
when  it  came  to  curiosity  and  gossip.  I  arrived  in 
the  evening  too  late  to  call  on  Miss  Rooks  and 
having  become  quite  anxious  to  see  her  again,  the 
night  dragged  slowly  away,  and  I  thought  the  con- 


TheConquest  69 

ventional  afternoon  would  never  come  again.  Her 
father,  who  was  an  important  figure  among  the 
colored  people,  was  a  mail  carrier  and  brought  the 
mail  to  the  house  that  morning  where  I  stopped. 
He  looked  me  over  searchingly,  and  I  tried  to  ap 
pear  unaffected  by  his  scrutinizing  glances. 

By  and  by  two  o'clock  finally  arrived,  and  with 
my  sister  I  went  to  make  my  first  call  in  three  years. 
I  had  grown  quite  tall  and  rugged,  and  I  was  anxious 
to  see  how  she  looked.  We  were  received  by  her 
mother  who  said:  "Jessie  saw  you  coming  and  will 
be  out  shortly."  After  a  while  she  entered  and  how 
she  had  changed.  She,  too,  had  grown  much 
taller  and  was  a  little  stooped  in  the  shoulders. 
She  was  neatly  dressed  and  wore  her  hair  done  up 
in  a  small  knot,  in  keeping  with  the  style  of  that 
time.  She  came  straight  to  me,  extended  her  hand 
and  seemed  delighted  to  see  me  after  the  years  of 
separation. 

After  awhile  her  mother  and  my  sister  accom 
modatingly  found  an  excuse  to  go  up  town,  and  a 
few  minutes  later  with  her  on  the  settee  beside  me, 
I  was  telling  of  my  big  plans  and  the  air  castles  I 
was  building  on  the  great  plains  of  the  west.  Finally, 
drawing  her  hand  into  mine  and  finding  that  she 
offered  no  resistance,  I  put  my  arm  around  her 
waist,  drew  her  close  and  declared  I  loved  her. 
Then  I  caught  myself  and  dared  not  go  farther  with 
so  serious  a  subject  when  I  recalled  the  wild,  rough, 
and  lonely  place  out  on  the  plains  that  I  had  selected 
as  a  home,  and  finally  asked  that  we  defer  anything 
further  until  the  claim  on  the  Little  Crow  should 
develop  into  something  more  like  an  Illinois  home. 


70  The    Conquest 

"0,  we  don't  know  what  will  happen  before  that 
time"  she  spoke  for  the  first  time,  with  a  blush  as 
I  squeezed  her  hand. 

"But  nothing  can  happen,"  I  defended,  non 
plused,  "can  there?" 

"Well,  no,"  she  answered  hesitatingly,  leaning 
away. 

"Then  we  will,  won't  we?"  I  urged. 

"Well,  yes",  she  answered,  looking  down  and 
appearing  a  trifle  doubtful.  I  admired  her  the  more. 
Love  is  something  I  had  longed  for  more  than  any 
thing  else,  but  my  ambition  to  overcome  the  vagaries 
of  my  race  by  accomplishing  something  worthy 
of  note,  hadn't  given  me  much  time  to  seek  love. 

I  went  to  my  old  occupation  of  the  road  for  awhile 
and  spent  most  of  the  winter  on  a  run  to  Florida, 
where  the  tipping  was  as  good  as  it  had  been  on  the 
run  from  St.  Louis  to  New  York.  However,  about 
a  month  before  I  quit  I  was  assigned  to  a  run  to 
Boston.  By  this  time  I  had  seen  nearly  all  the 
important  cities  in  the  United  States  and  of  them 
all  none  interested  me  so  much  as  Boston. 

What  always  appeared  odd  to  me,  however,  was 
the  fact  that  the  passenger  yards  were  right  at  the 
door  of  the  fashionable  Back  Bay  district  on  Hunt- 
ington  Avenue,  near  the  Hotel  Nottingham,  not 
three  blocks  from  where  the  intersection  of  Hunting- 
ton  Avenue  and  Boylton  Street  form  an  acute  angle 
in  which  stands  the  Public  Library,  and  in  the  op 
posite  angle  stands  Trinity  Church,  so  thickly 
purpled  with  aristocracy  and  the  memory  big  with 
the  tradition  of  Philip  Brooks,  the  last  of  that  group 
of  mighty  American  pulpit  orators,  of  whom  I  had 


The    Conquest  71 

read  so  much.  A  little  farther  on  stands  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

The  mornings  I  spent  wandering  around  the  city, 
visiting  Faneuil  Hall,  the  old  State  House,  Boston 
commons,  Bunker  Hill,  and  a  thousand  other  re 
minders  of  the  early  heroism,  rugged  courage,  and 
far  seeing  greatness  of  Boston's  early  citizens. 
Afternoons  generally  found  me  on  Tremont  or 
Washington  Street  attending  a  matinee  or  hearing 
music.  There  once  I  heard  Caruso,  Melba,  and  two 
or  three  other  grand  opera  stars  in  the  popular 
Rigeletto  Quartette,  and  another  time  I  witnessed 
" Siberia"  and  the  gorgeous  and  blood-curdling 
reproduction  of  the  Kishneff  Massacre,  with  two 
hundred  people  on  the  stage.  On  my  last  trip  to 
Boston  I  saw  Chauncy  Olcott  in  "Terrence  the 
Coach  Boy",  a  romance  of  old  Ireland  with  the 
scene  laid  in  Valley  Bay,  which  seemed  to  correspond 
to  the  Back  Bay  a  few  blocks  away. 

Dear  old  Boston,  when  will  I  see  you  again,  was 
my  thought  as  the  train  pulled  out  through  the 
most  fashionable  part  of  America,  so  stately  and 
so  grand.  Even  now  I  recall  the  last  trip  with  a 
sigh.  If  the  Little  Crow,  with  Oristown  as  its 
gateway,  was  a  land  of  hope;  through  Massachu 
setts;  Worcester,  with  the  Polytechnic  Institute 
arising  in  the  back  ground;  Springfield,  and  Smith 
School  for  girls,  Pittsfield,  Brookfield,  and  on  to 
Albany  on  the  Hudson,  is  a  memory  never  to  be 
forgotten,  which  evolved  in  my  mind  many  long 
years  afterward,  in  my  shack  on  the  homestead. 


72  TheConquest 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE  RETURN— ERNEST  NICHOLSON 

LEFT  St.  Louis  about  April  first  with 
about  three  thousand  dollars  in  the  bank 
and  started  again  for  Oristown,  this 
time  to  stay.  I  had  just  paid  Jessie  a 
visit  and  I  felt  a  little  lonely*  With  the  grim  reality 
of  the  situation  facing  me,  I  now  began  to  steel  my 
nerves  for  a  lot  of  new  experience  which  soon  came 
thick  and  fast. 

Slater  met  the  train  at  Oristown,  and  as  soon  as 
he  spied  me  he  informed  me  that  I  was  a  lucky  man. 
That  a  town  had  been  started  a  joining  my  land  and 
was  being  promoted  by  his  brother  and  the  sons  of 
a  former  Iowa  Governor,  and  gave  every  promise 
of  making  a  good  town,  also,  if  I  cared  to  sell,  he 
had  a  buyer  who  was  willing  to  pay  me  a  neat 
advance  over  what  I  had  paid.  However,  I  had 
no  idea  of  parting  with  the  land,  but  I  was  delighted 
over  the  news,  and  the  next  morning  found  me 
among  Dad  Burpee's  through  stage  coach  pas 
sengers,  for  Calias,  the  new  town  joining  my  home 
stead,  via  Hedrick  and  Kirk.  As  we  passed  through 
Hedrick  I  noticed  that  several  frame  shacks  had 
been  put  up  and  some  better  buildings  were  under 
way.  The  ground  had  been  frozen  for  five  months, 
so  sod-house  building  had  been  temporarily  aban 
doned. 

It  was  a  long  ride,  but  I  was  beside  myself  with 
enthusiasm.  Calias  finally  loomed  up,  conspicu 
ously  perched  on  a  hill,  and  could  be  seen  long  before 


TheConquest  73 

• 

the  stage  arrived,  and  was  the  scene  of  much  activity 
It  had  been  reported  that  a  colored  man  had  a  claim 
adjoining  the  town  on  the  north,  so  when  I  stepped 
from  the  stage  before  the  postoffice,  the  many 
knowing  glances  informed  me  that  I  was  being  looked 
for.  A  fellow  who  had  a  claim  near  and  whom  I 
met  in  Oristown,  introduced  me  to  the  Postmaster 
whose  name  was  Billinger,  an  individual  with  dry 
complexion  and  thin,  light  hair.  Then  to  the  presi 
dent  of  the  Townsite  Company,  second  of  three 
sons  of  the  Iowa  Governor. 

My  long  experience  with  all  classes  of  humanity 
had  made  me  somewhat  of  a  student  of  human 
nature,  and  I  could  see  at  a  glance  that  here  was  a 
person  of  unusual  agressiveness  and  great  capacity 
for  doing  things.  As  he  looked  at  me  his  eyes 
seemed  to  bore  clear  through,  and  as  he  asked  a  few 
questions  his  searching  look  would  make  a  person 
tell  the  truth,  whether  he  would  or  no.  This  was 
Ernest  Nicholson,  and  in  the  following  years  he 
had  much  to  do  with  the  development  of  the  Little 
Crow. 


74  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  X 

THE  OKLAHOMA  GRAFTER 

]HAT  evening  at  the  hotel  he  asked  me 
whether  I  wished  to  double  my  money 
by  selling  my  relinquishment.  "No," 
I  answered,  "but  I  tell  you  what  I  do 
want  to  do,"  I  replied  firmly.  "I  am  not  here  to 
sell;  I  am  here  to  make  good  or  die  trying;  I  am  here 
to  grow  up  with  this  country  and  prosper  with  the 
growth,  if  possible.  I  have  a  little  coin  back  in  old 
"Chi."  (my  money  was  still  in  the  Chicago  bank) 
"and  when  these  people  begin  to  commute  and  want 
to  sell,  I  am  ready  to  buy  another  place."  I  admired 
the  fellow.  He  reminded  me  of  "the  richest  man  in 
the  world"  in  "The  Lion  and  the  Mouse,"  Otis 
Skinner  as  Colonel  Phillippi  Bridau,  an  officer  on  the 
staff  of  Napoleon's  Army  in  "The  Honor  of  the 
Family",  and  other  characters  in  plays  that  I  greatly 
admired,  where  great  courage,  strength  of  character, 
and  firm  decision  were  displayed.  He  seemed  to 
have  a  commanding  way  that  one  found  himself 
feeling  honored  and  willing  to  obey. 

But  getting  back  to  the  homestead.  I  looked 
over  my  claim  and  found  it  just  as  I  had  left  it  the 
fall  before,  excepting  that  a  prairie  fire  during  the 
winter  had  burned  the  grass.  The  next  morning 
I  returned  to  Oristown  and  announced  my  intentions 
of  buying  a  team.  The  same  day  I  drew  a  draft 
for  five  hundred  dollars  with  which  to  start. 

Now  if  there  is  anywhere  an  inexperienced  man  is 
sure  to  go  wrong  in  starting  up  on  a  homestead,  it  is 


TheConquest  75 

in  buying  horses.  Most  prospective  homesteaders 
make  the  same  mistake  I  did  in  buying  horses,  unless 
they  are  experienced.  The  inefficient  man  reasons 
thus:  "Well,  I  will  start  off  economically  by  buy 
ing  a  cheap  team" — and  he  usually  gets  what  he 
thought  he  wanted,  "a  cheap  team." 

If  I  had  gone  into  the  country  and  bought  a  team 
of  young  mares  for  say  three  hundred  dollars,  which 
would  have  been  a  very  high  price  at  that  time,  I 
would  have  them  yet,  and  the  increase  would  have 
kept  me  fairly  well  supplied  with  young  horses, 
instead  of  scouting  around  town  looking  for  some 
thing  cheaper,  in  the  "skate"  line,  as  I  did.  I 
looked  at  so  many  teams  around  Oristown  that  all 
of  them  began  to  look  alike.  I  am  sure  I  must  have 
looked  at  five  hundred  different  horses,  more  in  an 
effort  to  appear  as  a  conservative  buyer  than  to 
buy  the  best  team.  Finally  I  ran  onto  an  "Okla 
homa"  grafter  by  the  name  of  Numemaker. 

He  was  a  deceiving  and  unscrupulous  rascal,  but 
nevertheless  possessed  a  pleasing  personality,  which 
stood  him  in  good  in  his  schemes  of  deception,  and 
we  became  quite  chummy.  He  professed  to  know 
all  about  horses — no  doubt  he  did,  but  he  didn't 
put  his  knowledge  at  my  disposal  in  the  way  I 
thought  he  should,  being  a  friend,  as  he  claimed. 
He  finally  persuaded  me  to  buy  a  team  of  big 
plugs,  one  of  which  was  so  awkward  he  looked  as 
though  he  would  fall  down  if  he  tried  to  trot. 
The  other  was  a  powerful  four-year-old  gelding,  that 
would  have  never  been  for  sale  around  Oristown  if 
it  hadn't  been  that  he  had  two  feet  badly  wire  cut. 
One  was  so  very  large  that  it  must  have  been  quite 


76  The    Conquest 

burdensome  for  the  horse  to  pick  it  up,  swing  it 
forward  and  put  it  down,  as  I  look  back  and  see 
him  now  in  my  mind. 

When  I  was  paying  the  man  for  them  I  wondered 
why  Nunemaker  led  him  into  the  private  office  of 
the  bank,  but  I  was  not  left  long  in  doubt.  When 
I  crossed  the  street  one  of  the  men  who  had  tried 
to  sell  me  a  team  jumped  me  with:  "Well,  they  got 
you,  did  they?"  his  voice  mingled  with  sarcasm  and 
a  sneer. 

"Got  who?"  I  returned  questionly. 

"Does  a  man  have  to  knock  you  down  to  take 
a  hint?"  he  went  on  in  a  tone  of  disappointment 
and  anger.  Don't  you  know  that  man  Nunemaker 
is  the  biggest  grafter  in  Oristown?  I  would  have 
sold  you  that  team  of  mine  for  twenty-five  dollars 
less'n  I  offered  'em,  if  the  gol-darn  grafter  hadn't 
of  come  to  me'n  said,  'give  me  twenty-five  dollars 
and  I  will  see  that  the  coon  buys  the  team/  I 
would  have  knocked  him  down  with  a  club  if  I'd 
had  one,  the  low  life  bum."  He  finished  with  a 
snort  and  off  he  went. 

"Stung,  by  cracky,"  was  all  I  could  say,  and  feel 
ing  rather  blue  I  went  to  the  bam  where  the  team 
was,  stroked  them  and  hoped  for  the  best. 

I  then  bought  lumber  to  build  a  small  house  and 
barn,  an  old  wagon  for  twenty  dollars,  one  wheel 
of  which  the  blacksmith  had  forgotten  to  grease, 
worked  hard  all  day  getting  loaded,  and  wearied, 
sick  and  discouraged,  I  started  at  five  o'clock  P.  M. 
to  drive  the  thirty  miles  to  Calias.  When  I  was 
out  two  miles  the  big  old  horse  was  wobbling  along 
like  a  broken-legged  cow,  hobbling,  stumbling,  and 


The    Conquest  77 

making  such  a  burdensome  job  of  walking,  that  I 
felt  like  doing  something  desperate.  When  I 
looked  back  the  wheel  that  had  not  been  greased 
was  smoking  like  a  hot  box  on  the  Twentieth 
Century  Limited. 

The  sun  was  nearly  down  and  a  cold  east  wind 
was  whooping  it  up  at  about  sixty  miles  an  hour, 
chilling  me  to  the  marrow.  The  fact  that  I  was  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land,  inhabited  wholly  by 
people  not  my  own  race,  did  not  tend  to  cheer  my 
gloomy  spirits.  I  decided  it  might  be  all  right  in 
July  but  never  in  April.  I  pulled  my  wagon  to  the 
side  of  the  road,  got  down  and  unhitched  and 
jumped  on  the  young  horse,  and  such  a  commotion 
as  he  did  make.  I  am  quite  sure  he  would  have 
bucked  me  off,  had  it  not  for  his  big  foot  being  so 
heavy,  he  couldn't  raise  it  quick  enough  to  leap. 
Evidently  he  had  never  been  ridden.  When  I  got 
back  to  Oristown  and  put  the  team  in  the  barn  and 
warmed  up,  I  resolved  to  do  one  thing  and  do  it 
that  night.  I  would  sell  the  old  horse,  and  I  did, 
for  twenty-two-fifty.  I  considered  myself  lucky, 
too.  I  had  paid  one  hundred  and  ninety  dollars 
for  the  team  and  harness  the  day  before. 

I  sat  down  and  wrote  Jessie  a  long  letter,  telling 
her  of  my  troubles  and  that  I  was  awfully,  awfully, 
lonesome.  There  was  only  one  other  colored  person 
in  the  town,  a  barber  who  was  married  to  a  white 
woman,  and  I  didn't  like  him. 

The  next  day  I  hired  a  horse,  started  early  and 
arrived  at  Calias  in  good  time.  At  Hedrick  I  hired 
a  sod  mason,  who  was  also  a  carpenter,  at  three 
dollars  a  day  and  we  soon  put  up  a^frame  barn 


78  TheConquest 

large  enough  for  three  horses;  a  sod  house  sixteen 
by  fourteen  with  a  hip  roof  made  of  two  by  fours  for 
rafters,  and  plain  boards  with  tar  paper  and  sod 
with  the  grass  turned  downward  and  laid  side  by 
side,  the  cracks  being  filled  with  sand.  The  house 
had  two  small  windows  and  one  door,  that  was  a 
little  short  on  account  of  my  getting  tired  carrying 
sod.  I  ordered  the  "contractor"  to  put  the  roof 
on  as  soon  as  I  felt  it  was  high  enough  to  be 
comfortable  inside. 

The  fifth  day  I  moved  in.  There  was  no  floor, 
but  the  thick,  short  buffalo  grass  made  a  neat  carpet. 
In  one  corner  I  put  the  bed,  while  in  another  I  set 
the  table,  the  one  next  the  door  I  placed  the  stove, 
a  little  two-hole  burner  gasoline,  and  in  the  other 
corner  I  made  a  bin  for  the  horses  grain. 


The    Conquest  79 

CHAPTER  XI 
DEALIN'  IN  MULES 


|T  must  have  been  about  the  twentieth 
of  April  when  I  finished  building.  I 
started  to  "batch"  and  prepared  to 
break  out  my  claim.  Having  only 
one  horse,  it  became  necessary  to  buy  another  team. 
I  decided  to  buy  mules  this  time.  I  remembered 
that  back  on  our  farm  in  southern  Illinois,  mules 
were  thought  to  be  capable  of  doing  more  work  than 
horses  and  eat  less  grain.  So  when  some  boys  living 
west  of  me  came  one  Sunday  afternoon,  and  said 
they  could  sell  me  a  team  of  mules,  I  agreed  to  go 
and  see  them  the  next  day.  I  thought  I  was  getting 
wise.  As  proof  of  such  wisdom  I  determined  to 
view  the  mules  in  the  field.  I  followed  them  around 
the  field  a  few  times  and  although  they  were  not 
fine  looking,  they  seemed  to  work  very  well.  An 
other  great  advantage  was,  they  were  cheap,  only 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars  for  the  team 
and  a  fourteen-inch-rod  breaking  plow.  This 
looked  to  me  like  a  bargain.  I  wrote  him  a  check 
and  took  the  mules  home  with  me.  Jack  and  Jenny 
were  their  names,  and  I  hadn't  owned  Jack  two 
days  before  I  began  to  hate  him.  He  was  lazy, 
and  when  he  went  down  hill,  instead  of  holding 
his  head  up  and  stepping  his  front  feet  out,  he  would 
lower  the  bean  and  perform  a  sort  of  crow-hop. 
It  was  too  exasperating  for  words  and  I  used  to 
strike  him  viciously  for  it,  but  that  didn't  seem  to 
help  matters  any. 


80  The    Conquest 

I  shall  not  soon  forget  my  first  effort  to  break 
prairie.  There  are  different  kinds  of  plows  made  for 
breaking  the  sod.  Some  kind  that  are  good  for 
one  kind  of  soil  cannot  be  used  in  another.  In 
the  gummy  soils  of  the  Dakotas,  a  long  slant  cut 
is  the  best.  In  fact,  about  the  only  kind  that  can 
be  used  successfully,  while  in  the  more  sandy  lands 
found  in  parts  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  a  kind  is 
used  which  is  called  the  square  cut.  The  share 
being  almost  at  right  angles  with  the  beam  instead 
of  slanting  back  from  point  to  heel.  Now  in  sandy 
soils  this  pulls  much  easier  for  the  grit  scours  off 
any  roots,  grass,  or  whatever  else  would  hang  over 
the  share.  To  attempt  to  use  this  kind  in  wet, 
sticky  land,  such  as  was  on  my  claim,  would  find 
the  soil  adhering  to  the  plow  share,  causing  it  to 
drag,  gather  roots  and  grass,  until  it  is  impossible 
to  keep  the  plow  in  the  ground.  When  it  is  dry, 
this  kind  of  plow  can  be  used  with  success  in  the 
gummy  land;  but  it  was  not  dry  when  I  invaded 
my  homestead  soil  with  my  big  horse,  Jenny  and 
Jack,  that  first  day  of  May,  but  very  wet  indeed, 

To  make  matters  worse,  Doc,  the  big  horse, 
believed  in  "speeding."  Jenny  was  fair  but  Jack, 
on  the  landside,  was  affected  with  "hook-worm 
hustle,"  and  believed  in  taking  his  time.  I  tried 
to  help  him  along  with  a  yell  that  grew  louder  as 
I  hopped,  skipped,  and  jumped  across  the  pairie, 
and  that  plow  began  hitting  and  missing,  mostly 
missing.  It  would  gouge  into  the  soil  up  to  the 
beam,  and  the  big  horse  would  get  down  and  make 
a  mighty  pull,  while  old  Jack  would  swing  back 
like  the  heavy  end  of  a  ball  bat  when  a  player 


The    Conquest  81 

draws  to  strike,  and  out  would  come  the  plow  with 
a  skip,  skip,  skip;  the  big  horse  nearly  trotting  and 
dragging  the  two  little  mules,  that  looked  like  two 
goats  beside  an  elephant.  Well,  I  sat  down  and  gave 
up  to  a  fit  of  the  blues;  for  it  looked  bad,  mighty 
bad  for  me. 

I  had  left  St.  Louis  with  two  hundred  dollars  in 
cash,  and  had  drawn  a  draft  for  five  hundred  dollars 
more  on  the  Chicago  bank,  where  my  money  was 
on  deposit,  and  what  did  I  have  for  it?  One  big 
horse,  tall  as  a  giraffe;  two  little  mules,  one  of  which 
was  a  torment  to  me;  a  sod  house;  and  'old  wagon. 
As  I  faced  the  situation  there  seemed  nothing  to  do 
but  to  fight  it  out,  and  I  turned  wearily  to  another 
attempt,  this  time  with  more  success.  Before  I 
had  started  breaking  I  had  invited  criticism.  Now 
I  was  getting  it  on  all  sides.  I  was  the  only  colored 
homesteader  on  the  reservation,  and  as  an  agricul 
turist  it  began  to  look  mighty  bad  for  the  colored 
race  on  the  Little  Crow. 

Finally,  with  the  assistance  of  dry  weather,  I 
got  the  plow  so  I  could  go  two  or  three  rods  without 
stopping,  throw  it  out  of  the  ground  and  clear  the 
share  of  roots  and  grass.  Sometimes  I  managed 
to  go  farther,  but  never  over  forty  rods,  the  entire 
summer. 

I  took  another  course  in  horse  trading  or  mule 
trading,  which  almost  came  to  be  my  undoing.  I 
determined  to  get  rid  of  Jack.  I  decided  that  I 
would  not  be  aggravated  with  his  laziness  and  crow- 
hopping  any  longer  than  it  took  me  to  find  a  trade. 
So  on  a  Sunday,  about  two  weeks  after  I  bought 
the  team,  a  horse  trader  pulled  into  Calias,  drew 

6 


82  The    Conquest 

his  prairie  schooner  to  a  level  spot,  hobbled  his  horses 
—mostly  old  plugs  of  diverse  descriptions,  and  made 
preparation  to  stay  awhile.  He  had  only  one 
animal,  according  to  my  horse-sense  (?),  that  was 
any  good,  and  that  was  a  mule  that  he  kept 
blanketed.  His  camp  was  so  situated  that  I  could 
watch  the  mule,  from  my  east  window,  and  the  more 
I  looked  at  the  mule,  the  better  he  looked  to  me. 
It  was  Wednesday  noon  the  following  week  and  old 
Jack  had  become  almost  unbearable.  My  con 
tinuing  to  watch  a  good  mule  do  nothing,  while 
I  continued  to  fret  my  life  away  trying  to  be  patient 
with  a  lazy  brute,  only  added  to  my  restlessness  and 
eagerness  to  trade.  At  noon  I  entered  the  barn 
and  told  old  Jack  I  would  get  rid  of  him.  I  would 
swap  him  to  that  horse  trader  for  his  good  mule 
as  soon  as  I  watered  him.  He  was  looking  pretty 
thin  and  I  thought  it  would  be  to  my  advantage 
to  fill  him  up. 

During  the  three  days  the  trader  camped  near 
my  house  he  never  approached  me  with  an  offer 
to  sell  or  trade,  and  it  was  with  many  misgivings 
that  I  called  out  in  a  loud,  breezy  voice  and  David 
Harum  manner; "  Hello,  Governor,  how  will  you 
trade  mules?"  "How'll  I  trade  mules?  did  you 
say  how'll  I  trade  mules?  Huh,  do  you  suppose  I 
want  your  old  mule?"  drawing  up  one  side  of  his 
face  and  twisting  his  big  red  nose  until  he  resembled 
a  German  clown. 

"0,  my  mule's  fair",  I  defended  weakly. 

"Nothing  but  an  old  dead  mule,"  he  spit  out, 
grabbing  old  Jack's  tail  and  giving  him  a  yank  that 
all  but  pulled  him  over.  "Look  at  him,  look  at  him," 


TheConquest  83 

/ 

he  rattled  away  like  an  auctioneer.  "Go  on,  Mr. 
Colored  Man,  you  can't  work  me  that  way."  He 
continued  stepping  around  old  Jack,  making  pre- 
tentions  to  hit  him  on  the  head.  Jack  may  have 
been  slow  in  the  field,  but  he  was  swift  in  dodging, 
and  he  didn't  look  where  he  dodged  either.  I  was 
standing  at  his  side  holding  the  reins,  when  the 
fellow  made  one  of  his  wild  motions,  and  Jack  nearly 
knocked  my  head  off  as  he  dodged.  "Nawsir,  if  I 
considered  a  trade,  that  is  if  I  considered  a  trade 
at  all,  I  would  have  to  have  a  lot  of  boot"  he  said 
with  an  important  air. 

"How  much?"  I  asked  nervously. 

"Well,  sir",  he  spoke  with  slow  decision;  "  I  would 
have  to  have  twenty-five  dollars." 

"What!"  I  exclaimed,  at  which  he  seemed  to 
weaken;  but  he  didn't  understand  that  my  excla 
mation  was  of  surprise  that  he  only  wanted  twenty- 
five  dollars,  when  I  had  expected  to  give  him  seventy- 
five  dollars.  I  grasped  the  situation,  however,  and 
leaning  forward,  said  hardly  above  a  whisper,  my 
heart  was  so  near  my  throat:  "I  will  give  you 
twenty,"  as  I  pulled  out  my  roll  and  held  a  twen  y 
before  his  eyes,  which  he  took  as  though  afraid  I 
would  jerk  it  away;  muttering  something  about  it 
not  being  enough,  and  that  he  had  ought  to  have  had 
twenty-five.  However,  he  got  old  Jack  and  the 
twenty,  gathered  his  plugs  and  left  town  immed 
iately.  I  felt  rather  proud  of  my  new  possession, 
but  before  I  got  through  the  field  that  afternoon  I 
became  suspicious.  Although  I  looked  my  new 
mule  over  and  over  often  during  the  afternoon  while 
plowing,  I  could  find  nothing  wrong.  Still  I  had 


84  The    Conquest 

a  chilly  premonition,  fostered,  no  doubt,  by  past 
experience,  that  something  would  show  up  soon, 
and  in  a  few  days  it  did  show  up.  I  learned 
afterward  the  trader  had  come  thirty-five  miles  to 
trade  me  that  mule. 

The  mule  I  had  traded  was  only  lazy,  while  the 
one  I  had  received  in  the  trade  was  not  only  lazy, 
but  "ornery"  and  full  of  tricks  that  she  took  a 
fiendish  delight  in  exercising  on  me.  One  of  her 
favorites  was  to  watch  me  out  of  her  left  eye, 
shirking  the  while,  and  crowding  the  furrow  at  the 
same  time,  which  would  pull  the  plow  out  of  the 
ground.  I  tried  to  coax  and  cajole  her  into  doing 
a  decent  mule's  work,  but  it  availed  me  nothing. 
I  bore  up  under  the  aggravation  with  patience  and 
fortitude,  then  determined  to  subdue  the  mule  or 
become  subdued  myself.  I  would  lunge  forward 
with  my  whip,  and  away  she  would  rush  out  from 
under  it,  brush  the  other  horse  and  mule  out  of 
their  places  and  throw  things  into  general  confusion. 
Then  as  soon  as  I  was  again  straightened  out,  she 
would  be  back  at  her  old  tricks,  and  I  am  almost 
positive  that  she  used  to  wink  at  me  impudently 
from  her  vantage  point.  Added  to  this,  the  coloring 
matter  with  which  the  trader  doped  her  head,  faded, 
and  she  turned  grey  headed  in  two  weeks,  leaving 
me  with  a  mule  of  uncertain  and  doubtful  age,  in 
stead  of  one  of  seven  going  on  eight  as  the  trader 
represented  her  to  be. 

I  soon  had  the  enviable  reputation  of  being  a  horse 
trader.  Whenever  anybody  with  horses  to  trade 
came  to  town,  they  were  advised  to  go  over  to  the 
sod  house  north  of  town  and  see  the  colored  man. 


The    Conquest  85 

He  was  fond  of  trading  horses,  yes,  he  fairly  doted 
on  it.  Nevertheless  with  all  my  poor  "  horse- 
judgment"  I  continued  to  turn  the  sod  over  day 
after  day  and  completed  ten  or  twelve  acres  each 
week. 


86  TheConquest 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE  HOMESTEADERS 

F  neighbors,  I  had  many.  There  was 
Miss  Carter  from  old  Missouri  whose 
claim  joined  mine  on  the  west,  and  an 
other  Missourian  to  the  north  of  her;  a 
loud  talking  German  north  of  him,  and  an  English 
preacher  to  the  east  of  the  German.  A  traveling 
man's  family  lived  north  of  me;  and  a  big,  fat,  lazy 
barber  who  seemed  to  be  taking  the  "rest  cure," 
joined  me  on  the  east.  His  name  was  Starks  and 
he  had  drawn  number  252.  He  had  a  nice,  level 
claim  with  only  a  few  buffalo  wallows  to  detract 
from  its  value,  and  he  held  the  distinction  of  being 
the  most  uncompromisingly  lazy  man  on  the  Little 
Crow.  This,  coupled  with  the  unpardonable 
fault  of  complaining  about  everything,  made  him 
nigh  unbearable  and  he  was  known  as  the  "  Beefer." 
He  came  from  a  small  town,  usually  the  home  of 
his  ilk,  in  Iowa,  where  he  had  a  small  shop  and  owned 
three  and  a  half  acres  of  garden  and  orchard  ground 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  He  would  take  a 
fiendish  delight  in  relating  and  re-relating  how  the 
folks  in  his  house  back  in  Iowa  were  having  straw 
berries,  new  peas,  green  beans,  spring  onions,  and 
enjoying  all  the  fruits  of  a  tropical  climate,  while  he 
was  holding  down  an  "infernal  no-account  claim" 
on  the  Little  Crow,  and  eating  out  of  a  can. 

A  merchant  was  holding  down  a  claim  south  of 
him,  and  a  banker  lived  south  of  the  merchant. 
Thus  it  was  a  varied  class  of  homesteaders  around 


TheConquest  87 

Calias  and  Megory,  the  first  summer  on  the  Little 
Crow.  Only  about  one  in  every  eight  or  ten  was 
a  farmer.  They  were  of  all  vocations  in  life  and 
all  nationalities,  excepting  negroes,  and  I  controlled 
the  colored  vote. 

This  was  one  place  where  being  a  colored  man  was 
an  honorary  distinction.  I  remember  how  I  once 
requested  the  stage  driver  to  bring  me  some  meat 
from  Megory,  there  being  no  meat  shop  in  Calias, 
and  it  was  to  be  left  at  the  post  office.  Apparently 
I  had  failed  to  give  the  stage  driver  my  name,  for 
when  I  called  for  it,  it  was  handed  out  to  me,  done 
up  in  a  neat  package,  and  addressed  "Colored  Man, 
Calias."  My  neighbors  soon  learned,  however, 
that  my  given  name  was  "Oscar,"  but  it  was  some 
time  before  they  could  all  spell  or  pronounce  the 
odd  surname. 

During  the  month  of  June  it  rained  twenty-three 
days,  but  I  was  so  determined  to  break  out  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  that  after  a  few  days 
of  the  rainy  weather  I  went  out  and  worked  in  the 
rain.  Starks  used  to  go  up  town  about  four  o'clock 
for  the  mail,  wearing  a  long,  yellow  slicker,  and  when 
he  saw  me  going  around  the  half-mile  land  he  re 
marked  to  the  bystanders:  "Just  look  at  that  fool 
nigger  a  working  in  the  rain." 

Being  the  first  year  of  settlement  in  a  new  country, 
there  naturally  was  no  hay  to  buy,  so  the  settlers 
turned  their  stock  out  to  graze,  and  many  valuable 
horses  strayed  away  and  were  lost.  When  it  rained 
so  much  and  the  weather  turned  so  warm,  the  mos 
quitoes  filled  the  air  and  covered  the  earth  and 
attacked  everything  in  their  path.  When  I  turned 


88  The    Conquest 

my  horses  out  after  the  day's  work  was  done,  they 
soon  found  their  way  to  town,  where  they  stood  in 
the  shelter  of  some  buildings  and  fought  mos 
quitoes.  Their  favorite  place  for  this  pastime  was 
the  post  office,  where  Billinger  had  a  shed  awning 
over  the  board  walk,  the  framework  consisting  of 
two-by-fours  joined  together  and  nailed  lightly  to 
the  building,  and  on  top  of  this  he  had  laid  a  few 
rough  boards.  Under  this  crude  shelter  the  home 
steaders  found  relief  from  the  broiling  afternoon  sun, 
and  swapped  news  concerning  the  latest  offer  for 
their  claims.  The  mosquitoes  did  not  bother  so 
much  in  even  so  slight  an  inclosure  as  this,  so  every 
night  Jenny  Mule  would  walk  on  to  the  board 
walk,  prick  up  her  ears  and  look  in  at  the  window. 
About  this  time  the  big  horse  would  come  along 
and  begin  to  scratch  his  neck  on  one  of  the  two-by- 
fours,  and  suddenly  down  would  go  Billinger's  port 
able  awning  with  a  loud  crash  which  was  augmented 
by  Jenny  Mule  getting  out  from  under  the  falling 
boards.  As  the  sound  echoed  through  the  slumber 
ing  village  the  big  horse  would  rush  away  to  the 
middle  of  the  street,  with  a  prolonged  snort,  and  won 
der  what  it  was  all  about.  This  was  the  story 
Billinger  told  when  I  came  around  the  next  morning 
to  drive  them  home  from  the  storekeeper's  oat  bin 
where  they  had  indulged  in  a  midnight  lunch.  The 
performance  was  repeated  nightly  and  got  brother 
Billinger  out  of  bed  at  all  hours.  He  swore  by 
all  the  Gods  of  Buddha  and  the  people  of  South 
Dakota,  that  he  would  put  the  beasts  up  and  charge 
me  a  dollar  to  get  them. 

Early  one  morning  I  came  over  and  found  that 
Billinger  had  remained  true  to  his  oath,  and  the 


The    Conquest  89 

horse  and  mule  were  tied  to  a  wagon  belonging  to 
the  storekeeper.  Nearby  on  a  pile  of  rock  sat 
Billinger,  nodding  away,  sound  asleep.  I  quietly 
untied  the  rope  from  the  wagon  and  peaceably  led 
them  home.  Then  Billinger  was  in  a  rage.  He 
had  a  small,  screechy  tremulo  voice  and  it  fairly 
sputtered  as  he  tiraded:  "  If  it  don't  beat  all;  I  never 
saw  the  like.  I  was  up  all  last  night  chasing  those 
darned  horses,  caught  them  and  tied  them  up;  and 
along  comes  Devereaux  while  I  am  asleep  and 
takes  horses,  rope  and  all."$  The  crowd  roared 
and  Billinger  decided  the  joke  was  on  him. 

Miss  Carter,  my  neighbor  on  the  west,  had  her 
trouble  too.  One  day  she  came  by,  distressed  and 
almost  on  the  verge  of  tears,  and  burst  out:  "Oh, 
Oh,  Oh,  I  hardly  know  what  to  do." 

I  could  never  bear  seeing  any  one  in  such  distress 
and  I  became  touched  by  her  grief.  Upon  becoming 
more  calm,  she  told  me:  "The  banker  says  that  the 
man  who  is  breaking  prairie  on  my  claim  is  ruining 
the  ground."  She  was  simply  heart-broken  about  it, 
and  off  she  went  into  another  spasm  of  distress. 
I  saw  the  fellow  wasn't  laying  the  sod  over  smoothly 
because  he  had  a  sixteen-inch  plow,  and  had  it 
set  to  cut  only  about  eight  inches,  which  caused 
the  sod  to  push  away  and  pile  up  on  edges,  instead 
of  turning  and  dropping  into  the  furrow.  I  went 
with  her  and  explained  to  the  fellow  where  the 
fault  lay.  The  next  day  he  was  doing  a  much  better 
job. 

Those  who  have  always  lived  in  the  older  settled 
parts  of  the  country  sometimes  have  exagge  ated 
ideas  of  life  on  the  homestead,  and  the  following 


90  The    Conquest 

incident  offers  a  partial  explanation.  Megory  and 
Caliaseach  had  a  newspaper,  and  when  they  weren't 
roasting  each  other  and  claiming  their  paper  to  be 
the  only  live  and  progressive  organ  in  the  country, 
they  were  " building"  railroads  or  printing  romatic 
tales  about  the  brave  homesteader  girls.  A  little 
red-headed  girl  nicknamed  "Jack"  owned  a  claim 
near  Calias.  One  day  it  was  reported  that  she 
killed  a  rattlesnake  in  her  house.  The  report  of 
the  great  encounter  reached  eastern  dailies,  and 
was  published  as  a  Sunday  feature  story  in  one  of 
the  leading  Omaha  papers.  It  was  accompanied 
by  gorgeous  pictures  of  the  girl  in  a  leather  skirt, 
riding  boots,  and  cow-boy  hat,  entering  a  sod  house, 
and  before  her,  coiled  and  poised  to  strike,  lay  a 
monster  rattlesnake.  Turning  on  her  heel  and 
jerking  the  bridle  from  her  horse's  head,  she  made 
a  terrific  swing  at  Mr.  Rattlesnake,  and  he,  of  course, 
"met  his  Waterloo."  This,  so  the  story  read,  was 
the  eightieth  rattlesnake  she  had  killed.  She  was 
described  as  "rattlesnake  Jack"  and  thereafter  went 
by  that  name.  She  was  also  credited  with  having 
spent  the  previous  winter  alone  on  her  claim  and 
rather  enjoyed  the  wintry  nights  and  snow  blockade. 
Now  as  a  matter  of  fact,  she  had  spent  most  of  the 
previous  winter  enjoying  the  comforts  of  a  front 
room  at  the  Hotel  Calias,  going  to  the  claim  oc 
casionally  on  nice  days.  She  had  no  horse,  and  as 
to  the  eighty  rattlesnakes,  seventy-nine  were  myths, 
existing  only  in  the  mind  of  a  prolific  feature  story 
writer  for  the  Sunday  edition  of  the  great  dailies. 
In  fact  she  had  killed  one  small  young  rattler  with 
a  button. 


TheConquest  91 

CHAPTER  XIII 

IMAGINATIONS  RUN  AMUCK 


DECIDED  to  utilize  some  of  my  spare 
time  by  doing  a  little  freighting  from 
Oristown  to  Calias.  Accordingly,  one 
fair  morning  I  started  for  the  former 
town.  It  began  raining  that  evening,  finally  turn 
ing  into  a  fine  snow,  and  by  morning  a  genuine 
South  Dakota  blizzard  was  raging.  How  the  wind 
did  screech  across  the  prairie! 

I  was  driving  the  big  horse  and  Jenny  Mule  to 
a  wagon  loaded  with  two  tons  of  coal.  They  were 
not  shod,  and  the  hillsides  had  become  slick  and 
treacherous  with  ice.  At  the  foot  of  very  hill 
Jenny  Mule  would  lay  her  ears  back,  draw  herself 
up  like  a  toad,  when  teased,  and  look  up  with  a 
groan,  while  the  big  horse  trotted  on  up  the  next 
slope,  pulling  her  share  of  the  load. 

When  the  wind  finally  went  down  the  mercury 
fell  to  25°  below  zero  and  my  wrists,  face,  feet, 
and  ears  were  frost  bitten  when  I  arrived  at 
Calias.  As  is  always  the  case  during  such  severe 
weather,  the  hotel  was  filled,  and  laughing,  story 
telling,  and  good  cheer  prevailed.  The  Nicholson 
boys  asked  "how  I  made  it"  and  I  answered 
disgustedly  that  I'd  have  made  it  all  right  if  that 
Jennie  Mule  hadn't  got  faint  hearted.  The  re 
mark  was  received  as  a  good  joke  and  my  suffering 
and  annoyances  of  the  trip  slipped  away  into  the 
past.  That  remark  also  had  the  further  effect  of 
giving  Jennie  Mule  immortality.  She  became  the 


92  The    Conquest 

topic  of  conversation  and  jest  in  hotel  and  postoffice 
lobbies,  and  even  to  this  day  the  story  of  the  "faint 
hearted  mule"  often  affords  splendid  entertainment 
at  festive  boards  and  banquet  halls  of  the  Little 
Crow,  when  told  by  a  Nicholson. 

While  working  in  the  rain,  the  perspiration  and 
the  rain  water  had  caused  my  body  to  become  so 
badly  galled,  that  I  found  considerable  difficulty 
in  getting  around.  To  add  to  this  discomfiture 
Jenny  Mule  was  affected  with  a  touch  of 
"Maudism"  at  times,  especially  while  engaged  in 
eating  grain.  One  night  when  I  had  wandered 
thoughtlessly  into  the  barn,  she  gave  me  such  a 
wallop  on  the  right  shin  as  to  impair  that  member 
until  I  could  hardly  walk  without  something  to 
hold  to.  As  it  had  taken  a  fourteen-hundred-mile 
walk  to  follow  the  plow  in  breaking  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  I  was  about  "all  in"  physically 
when  it  was  done. 

As  a  means  of  recuperation  I  took  a  trip  to  Chi 
cago.  While  there,  the  "call  of  the  road"  affected 
me;  I  got  reinstated  and  ran  a  couple  of  months 
to  the  coast.  Four  months  of  free  life  on  the  plains, 
however,  had  changed  me.  After  one  trip  I  came 
in  and  found  a  letter  from  Jessie,  saying  she  was  sick, 
and  although  she  never  said  "come  and  see  me"  I 
took  it  as  an  excuse  and  quit  that  P — n  Company 
for  good — and  here  it  passes  out  of  the  story — went 
down  state  to  M — boro,  and  spent  the  happiest 
week  of  my  life. 

After  I  had  returned  to  Dakota,  however,  I  con 
tracted  an  imagination  that  worked  me  into  a  state 
of  jealously,  concerning  an  individual  who  made 


TheConquest  93 

his  home  in  M — boro,  and  with  whom  I  suspicioned 
the  object  of  my  heart  to  be  unduly  friendly.  I  say, 
this  is  what  I  suspicioned.  There  was  no  particular 
proof,  and  I  have  been  inclined  to  think,  in  after 
years,  that  it  was  more  a  case  of  an  over-energetic 
imagination  run  amuck.  I  contended  in  my  mind 
and  in  my  letters  to  her  as  well,  that  I  should  not 
have  thought  anything  of  it,  if  the  "man  in  the  case " 
had  a  little  more  promising  future,  but  since  his 
proficiency  only  earned  him  the  munificent  sum  of 
three  dollars  per  week,  I  continued  to  fret  and  fume, 
until  I  at  last  resolved  to  suspend  all  communica 
tion  with  her. 

Now  what  I  should  have  done  when  I  reached  this 
stage  of  imaginary  insanity,  was  to  have  sent  Miss 
Rooks  a  ticket,  some  money,  and  she  would  have 
come  to  Dakota  and  married  me,  and  together  we 
would  have  "lived  happy  ever  after."  As  I  see  it 
now,  I  was  affected  with  an  "idealism."  Of  course 
I  was  not  aware  of  it  at  the  time — no  young  soul 
is — until  they  have  learned  by  bitter  experience 
the  folly  of  "they  should  not  do  thus  and  so",  and, 
of  course,  there  is  the  old  excuse,  "good  intentions." 
Somewhere  I  read  that  the  road  to — not  St.  Peter — 
is  paved  with  good  intentions.  The  result  of  my 
prolific  imagination  was  that  I  carried  out  my  reso 
lutions,  quit  writing,  and  emotionally  lived  rather 
unhappily  thereafter,  for  some  time  at  least. 


94  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  SURVEYORS 


[HE  entire  Little  Crow  reservation  con 
sisted  of  about  two  million  acres  of  land, 
four-fifths  of  which  was  unopened  and 
lay  west  of  Megory  County.  Of  the 
two  million  acres,  perhaps  one  million,  five  hundred 
thousand  ranged  from  fair  to  the  richest  of  loam 
soil,  underlaid  with  clay.  The  climatic  condition 
is  such  that  all  kinds  of  crops  grown  in  the  central 
west,  can  be  grown  here.  Two  hundred  miles  north, 
corn  will  not  mature;  two  hundred  miles  south, 
spring  wheat  is  not  grown;  two  hundred  west,  the 
altitude  is  too  high  to  insure  sufficient  rainfall  to 
produce  a  crop;  but  the  reservation  lands  are  in 
such  a  position  that  winter  wheat,  spring  wheat, 
oats,  rye,  corn,  flax,  and  barley  do  well.  Ever 
since  the  drouth  of  '94,  all  crops  had  thrived,  the 
rainfall  being  abundant,  and  continuing  so  during 
the  first  year  of  settlement.  Oristown  and  other 
towns  on  the  route  of  the  railroad  had  waited 
twenty  years  for  the  extension,  and  now  the  citizens 
of  Oristown  estimated  it  would  be  at  least  ten  years 
before  it  extended  its  line  through  the  reservation; 
while  the  settlers,  to  the  number  of  some  eight  thou 
sand,  hoped  they  would  get  the  road  in  five  years. 
However,  no  sleep  was  lost  in  anticipation.  The 
nearest  the  reservation  came  to  getting  a  railroad 
that  summer  was  by  the  way  of  a  newspaper  in 
Megory,  whose  editor  spent  most  of  his  time  building 
roads  into  Megory  from  the  north,  south,  and  the 


The    Conquest  95 

east.  In  reality,  the  C.  &  R.  W.  was  the  only  road 
likely  to  run  to  the  reservation,  and  all  the  towns 
depended  on  its  extension  to  overcome  the  long, 
burdensome  freighting  with  teams. 

With  all  the  country's  local  advantages,  its 
geographical  location  was  such  as  to  exclude  roads 
from  all  directions  except  the  one  taken  by  the 
C.  &  R.  W.  To  the  south  lay  nine  million  acres 
of  worthless  sand  hills,  through  which  it  would 
require  an  enormous  sum  of  money  to  build  a  road. 
Even  then  there  would  be  miles  of  track  which 
would  practically  pay  no  interest  on  the  investment. 
At  that  time  there  was  no  railroad  extending  the 
full  length  of  the  state  from  east  to  west,  most  lines 
stopping  at  or  near  the  Missouri  River.  Since  then 
two  or  three  lines  have  been  built  into  the  western 
part  of  the  state;  but  they  experienced  much 
difficulty  in  crossing  the  river,  owing  to  the  soft 
bottom,  which  in  many  places  would  not  support  a 
modern  steel  bridge.  For  from  one  to  two  months  in 
the  spring,  floating  ice  gives  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
and  wreaks  disaster  to  the  pontoon. 

A  bird's  eye  view  of  the  Little  Crow  shows  it  to 
look  something  like  a  bottle,  the  neck  being  the 
Missouri  River,  with  the  C.  &  R.  W.  tracks  creeping 
along  its  west  bank.  This  is  the  only  feasible  route 
to  the  Reservation  and  the  directors  of  this  road  were 
fully  aware  of  their  advantageous  position.  The 
freight  rates  from  Omaha  to  Oristown  (a  distance 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles)  being  as  high  as 
from  Omaha  to  Chicago,  a  distance  of  five  hundred 
miles. 

But  getting  back  to  the  settlers  around  and  in 


96  The    Conquest 

the  little  towns  on  the  Little  Crow.  The  first  thing 
to  be  considered  in  the  extension  was,  that  the 
route  it  took  would  naturally  determine  the  future 
of  the  towns.  Hedrick,  Kirk,  and  Megory  were 
government  townsites,  strung  in  a  northwesterly 
direction  across  the  country,  ranging  from  eight 
to  fifteen  miles  apart,  the  last  being  about  five  miles 
and  a  half  east  of  the  west  line  of  the  county.  Now 
the  county  on  the  west  was  expected  to  be  thrown 
open  to  settlement  soon,  would  likely  be  opened 
under  the  lottery  system,  as  was  Megory  county. 
After  matters  had  settled  this  began  to  be  discussed, 
particularly  by  the  citizens  of  Megory,  five  and  one- 
half  miles  from  the  Tipp  County  line.  This 
placed  Megory  in  the  same  position  to  handle  the 
crowds  coming  into  the  next  county,  as  Oristown 
had  for  Megory  County,  excepting  Megory  would 
have  an  advantage,  for  Tipp  County  was  twice  as 
large  as  Megory.  When  this  was  all  considered, 
the  people  of  Megory  began  to  boost  the  town  on 
the  prospects  of  a  future  boom.  The  only  uncertain 
feature  of  the  matter  then  to  be  considered  was 
which  way  the  road  would  extend.  That  was  where 
the  rub  came  in,  which  way  would  the  road  go? 
This  became  a  source  of  continual  worry  and  specu 
lation  on  the  part  of  the  towns,  and  the  men  who  felt 
inclined  to  put  money  into  the  towns  in  the  way  of 
larger,  better,  and  more  commodious  buildings; 
but  when  they  were  encouraged  to  do  so,  there  was 
always  the  bogy  "if."  If  the  railroad  should  miss 
us,  well,  the  man  owning  the  big  buildings  was 
"stung,"  that  was  all,  while  the  man  with  the  shack 
could  load  it  on  two  or  four  wagons,  and  with  a 


The    Conquest  97 

few  good  horses,  land  his  building^in^the  town  the 
railroad  struck  or  started.  This  was,  and  is  yet, 
one  of  the  big  reasons  shacks  are  so  numerous  in 
a  town  in  a  new  country,  which  expects  a  road  but 
knows  not  which  way  it  will  come;  and  the  officials 
of  the  C.  &  R.  W.  were  no  different  from  the  di 
rectors  of  any  other  road.  They  were  "mum"  as 
dummies.  They  wouldn't  tell  whether  the  road 
would  ever  extend  or  not. 

The  Oristown  citizens  claimed  it  was  at  one  time 
in  the  same  uncertainty  as  the  towns  to  the  west, 
and  for  some  fifteen  or  twenty  years  it  had  waited 
for  the  road.  With  the  road  stopping  at  Oristown, 
they  argued,  it  would  be  fully  ten  years  before  it 
left,  and  during  this  time  it  could  be  seen,  Oristown 
whould  grow  into  an  important  prairie  city,  as  it 
should.  Everything  must  be  hauled  into  Oris 
town,  as  well  as  out.  So  it  can  be  seen  that  Oristown 
would  naturally  boom.  While  nothing  had  been 
raised  to  the  west  to  ship  out,  as  yet,  still  there  was 
a  growing  population  on  the  reservation  and  thou 
sands  of  carloads  of  freight  and  express  were  being 
hauled  into  and  from  Oristown  monthly,  for  the 
settlers  on  the  reservation;  which  filled  the  town  with 
railroad  men  and  freighters.  Crops  had  been  good, 
and  every  thing  was  going  along  smoothly  for  the 
citizens  and  property  owners  of  Oristown.  Not  a 
cloud  on  her  sky  of  prosperity,  and  as  the  trite  saying 
goes:  "Everything  was  lovely,  and  the  goose  hung 
high/'  during  the  first  year  of  settlement  on  the 
Little  Crow. 

And  now  lest  we  forget  Calias.  Calias  was  lo 
cated  one  and  one-half  miles  east,  and  three  miles 

7 


98  The    Conquest 

south  of  Megory,  and  five  miles  straight  west  of 
Kirk.  If  the  C.  &  R.  W.  extending  its  line  west, 
should  strike  all  the  government  townsites,  as  was 
claimed  by  people  in  these  towns,  who  knew  nothing 
about  it,  and  Calias,  it  would  have  run  from  Kirk 
to  Megory  in  a  very  unusual  direction.  Indeed,  it 
would  have  been  following  the  section  lines  and  it 
is  common  knowledge  even  to  the  most  ignorant, 
that  railroads  do  not  follow  section  lines  unless  the 
section  lines  are  directly  in  its  path.  If  the  rail 
road  struck  Kirk  and  Megory,  it  was  a  cinch  it 
would  miss  Calias.  If  it  struck  Calias,  perched  on 
the  banks  of  the  Monca  Creek,  the  route  the 
Nicholsons,  as  promo  tors  of  the  town,  claimed  it 
would  take;  the  road  would  miss  all  the  towns  but 
Calias.  This  would  have  meant  glory  and  a  fortune 
for  the  promoters  and  lot  holders  of  the  town.  It 
would  also  have  meant  that  my  farm,  or  at  least  a 
part  of  it,  would  in  time  be  sold  for  town  lots. 

After  I  got  so  badly  overreached  in  dealing  in 
horses,  for  a  time  the  opinion  was  general  that  the 
solitary  negro  from  the  plush  cushions  of  a  P — n 
would  soon  see  that  growing  up  with  a  new  country 
was  not  to  his  liking,  and  would  be  glad  to  sell  at 
any  old  figure  and  "beat  it"  back  to  more  ease  and 
comfort.  This  is  largely  the  opinion  of  most  of 
the  white  people,  regarding  the  negro,  and  they  are 
not  entirely  wrong  in  their  opinion.  I  was  quite 
well  aware  that  such  an  opinion  existed,  but  con 
trary  to  expectations,  I  rather  appreciated  it.  When 
I  broke  out  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  with 
such  an  outfit  as  I  had,  as  against  many  other  real 
farmers  who  had  not  broken  over  forty  acres,  with 


TheConquest  99 

good  horses  and  their  knowledge  of  breaking  prairie, 
acquired  in  states  they  had  come  from,  I  began  to 
be  regarded  in  a  different  light.  At  first  I  was 
regarded  as  an  object  of  curiosity,  which  changed 
to  appreciation,  and  later  admiration.  I  was  not 
called  a  free-go-easy  coon,  but  a  genuine  booster 
for  Calias  and  the  Little  Crow.  I  never  spent  a 
lonesome  day  after  that. 

The  Nicholson  Brothers,  however,  gave  the  set 
tlers  no  rest,  and  created  another  sensation  of  rail 
road  building  by  their  new  contention  that  the 
railroad  would  not  be  extended  from  Oristown,  but 
that  it  would  be  built  from  a  place  on  the  Monca 
bottom  two  stations  below  Oristown,  where  the 
track  climbed  a  four  per  cent  grade  to  Fairview, 
then  on  to  Oristown.  They  offered  as  proof  of 
their  contention  that  the  C.  &  R.  W.  maintained 
considerable  yardage  there,  and  it  does  yet.  Why 
it  did,  people  did  not  know,  and  this  kept  everybody 
guessing.  Some  claimed  it  would  go  up  the  Monca 
Valley,  as  Nicholson  claimed.  This  much  can  be 
said  in  favor  of  the  Nicholsons,  they  were  good 
boosters,  or  "big  liars,"  as  their  rivals  called  them, 
and  if  one  listened  long  and  diligently  enough  they 
would  have  him  imagine  he  could  hear  the  exhaust 
of  a  big  locomotive  coming  up  the  Monca  Valley. 
While  the  people  in  the  government  townsites  per 
sisted  loudly  that  the  C.  &  R.  W.  had  contracted 
with  the  government  before  the  towns  were  located, 
to  strike  these  three  towns,  and  that  the  government 
had  helped  to  locate  them;  that  furthermore,  the 
railroad  would  never  have  left  the  Monca  Valley, 
which  it  followed  for  some  twenty  miles  after  leaving 


100  The    Conquest 

the  banks  of  the  Missouri.  All  of  which  sounded 
reasonable  enough,  but  the  government  and  the 
railroad  had  entered  into  no  agreement  whatever, 
and  the  people  in  the  government  towns  knew  it, 
and  were  uneasy. 

I  had  been  on  my  claim  just  about  a  year,  when 
one  day  Rattlesnake  Jack's  father  came  from 
his  home  on  the  Jim  River  and  sold  me  her  home 
stead  for  three  thousand  dollars.  My  dreams  were 
at  last  realized,  and  I  had  become  the  owner  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land;  but  my 
money  was  now  gone,  when  I  had  paid  the  one 
thousand,  five  hundred  dollars  down  on  the  Rattle 
Snake  Jack  place,  giving  her  back  a  mortgage  for 
the  remaining  one  thousand,  five  hundred  at  seven 
per  cent  interest,  and  it  was  a  good  thing  I  did,  too. 
I  bought  the  place  early  in  April  and  in  June  the 
Interior  Department  rejected  the  proof  she  had 
offered  the  November  before,  on  account  of  lack  of 
sufficient  residence  and  cultivation.  The  proof 
had  been  accepted  by  the  local  land  office,  and  a 
final  receipt  for  the  remaining  installments  of  the 
purchase  price,  amounting  to  four  hundred  and  eighty 
dollars,  was  issued.  A  final  receipt  is  considered 
to  be  equivalent  to  a  patent  or  deed,  but  when 
Rattlesnake  Jack's  proof  of  residence  got  to  the 
General  Land  Office  in  Washington,  in  quest  of  a 
patent,  the  commissioner  looked  it  over,  figured  up 
the  time  she  actually  put  in  on  the  place,  and  re 
jected  the  proof,  with  the  statement  that  it  only 
showed  about  six  month's  actual  residence.  At 
that  time  eight  month's  residence  was  required,  with 
six  months  within  which  to  establish  residence; 


TheConquest  101 

but  no  proof  could  be  accepted  until  after  the  claim 
ant  had  shown  eight  month's  actual  and  continu 
ous  residence. 

From  the  time  the  settlers  began  to  commute  or 
prove  up  on  the  Little  Crow,  all  proofs  which 
did  not  show  fully  eight  month's  residence,  were 
rejected.  This  was  done  mostly  by  the  Register 
and  Receiver  of  the  Local  Land  Office,  and  many 
were  sent  back  on  their  claims  to  stay  longer. 
Many  proofs  were  also  taken  by  local  U.  S.  Commis 
sioners,  County  Judges,  and  Clerks  of  Courts,  but 
these  officers  rarely  rejected  them,  for  by  so  doing 
they  also  rejected  a  four  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cent  fee.  About  one-third  of  the  persons  who 
offered  proof  at  that  time  had  them  turned  down  at 
the  Local  Land  Office.  This  gave  the  local  Com 
missioners,  County  Judges,  and  Clerks  of  Courts, 
a  chance  to  collect  twice  for  the  same  work.  It 
may  be  interesting  to  know  that  a  greater  percentage 
of  proofs  rejected  were  those  offered  by  women. 
This  was  perhaps  not  due  to  the  fact  that  the  ladies 
did  not  stay  on  their  claims,  so  much  as  it  was  con 
scientiousness.  They  could  not  make  a  forcible 
showing  by  saying  that  they  had  been  there  every 
night,  like  the  men  would  claim,  but  would  say  in 
stead  that  they  had  stayed  all  night  with  Miss  So- 
and-So  this  time  and  with  another  that  time,  and 
by  including  a  few  weeks'  visit  at  home  or  somewhere 
else,  they  would  bungle  their  proofs,  so  they  were 
compelled  to  try  again. 

A  short  time  after  this  and  evidently  because  so 
many  proofs  had  been  sent  back,  the  Interior 
Department  made  it  compulsory  for  the  claimant 


102  TheConquest 

to  put  in  fourteen  months'  actual  residence  on  the 
claim,  before  he  could  offer  proof.  With  fourteen 
months,  they  were  sure  to  stay  a  full  eight  months 
at  least.  This  system  has  been  very  successful. 

When  Rattlesnake  Jack  was  ordered  back,  after 
selling  me  the  place,  she  wanted  me  to  sign  a  quit 
claim  deed  to  her  and  accept  notes  for  the  money 
I  had  paid,  which  might  have  been  satisfactory  had 
it  not  been  that  she  thought  I  had  stopped  to  look 
back  and  failed  to  see  the  rush  of  progress  the  Little 
Crow  was  making;   that  the  long  anticipated  news 
had  been  spread,  and  was  now  raging  like  a  veritable 
prairie  fire,  and  stirred  the  people  of  the  Little  Crow 
as  much  as  an  active  stock  market  stirs  the  bulls 
on   the  stock  exchange.     The  report  spread   and 
stirred  the  everyday  routine  of  the  settlers  and  the 
finality  of  humdrum  and  inactivity  was  abrupt. 
It  came  one  day  in  early  April.     The  rain  had  kept 
the  farmers  from  the  fields  a  week.     It  had  been 
raining  for  nearly  a  month,  and  we  only  got  a  clear 
day  once  in  a  while.    This  day  it  was  sloppy  with 
out,  and  many  farmers  were  in  from  the  country. 
We  were  all  listening  to  a  funny  story  Ernest  Nich- 
olsin  was  telling,  and  "good  fellows"  were  listening 
attentively.     Dr.  Salter,  a  physician,  had  just  been 
laid  on  a  couch  in  the  back  room  of  the  saloon, 
"soused  to  the  gills,"  when  in  the  door  John  M. 
Keely,  a  sort  of  ne'er  do  well  popular  drummer, 
whose  proof  had  been  rejected  some  time  before, 
and  who  had  come  back  to  stay  "a  while  longer", 
stumbled  into  the  door  of  the  local  groggery.     He 
was  greeted  with  sallies  and  calls  of  welcome,  and 
like  many  of  the  others,  he  was  "feeling  good." 


The    Conquest  103 

He  sort  of  leaned  over,  and  hiccoughing  during  the 
intervals,  started  "I've,"  the  words  were  spoken 
chockingly,"got  news  for  you."  He  had  by  now  got 
inside  and  was  hanging  and  swinging  at  the  same 
time,  to  the  bar.  Then  before  finishing  what  he 
started,  called  "Tom,"  to  the  bar  tender,  "give  me 
a  whiskey  before  I",  and  here  he  leaned  over  and 
sang  the  words  "tell  the  boys  the  news."  "For 
the  love  of  Jesus  Keel"  exclaimed  the  crowd  in 
chorus  "tell  us  what  you  know."  He  drained  the 
glass  at  a  gulp  and  finally  spit  it  out.  "The  sur 
veyors  are  in  Oristown." 


104  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XV 
"WHICH  TOWN  WILL  THE  R.  R.  STRIKE?" 

[E  drummer's  information  soon  received 
corroboration  from  other  sources,  and 
although  it  seemed  almost  unbelievable, 
it  was  discussed  incessantly  and  excite 
ment  ran  high.  These  pioneers,  who  had  braved 
the  hardships  of  homestead  life  had  felt  that  with 
out  the  railroad  they  were  indeed  cut  off  from  civili 
zation.  To  them  the  advent  of  the  surveyors  in 
Oristown  could  mean  only  one  thing — that  their 
dreams  of  enjoying  the  many  advantages  of  the 
railroad  train,  would  soon  materialize. 

They  fell  to  enumerating  these  advantages — the 
mail  daily,  instead  of  only  once  or  twice  a  week; 
the  ease  with  which  they  could  make  necessary 
trips  to  the  neighboring  towns;  and  most  of  all — 
the  increase  in  the  value  of  the  land.  With  this 
last  subject  they  became  so  wrought  up  with  excite 
ment  and  anxiety  as  to  the  truth  of  the  report, 
that  they  could  stay  away  from  the  scene  of  action 
no  longer.  Accordingly,  buggies  and  vehicles  of 
all  descriptions  began  coming  into  Oristown  from 
all  directions.  I  hitched  Doc  and  my  new  horse, 
Boliver,  for  which  I  had  paid  one  hundred  and  forty 
dollars,  to  an  old  ramshackle  buggy  I  had  bought 
for  ten  dollars,  and  joined  the  procession. 

Three  miles  west  of  Oristown  we  came  upon  a 
crowd  of  circus-day  proportion,  and  in  their  midst 
were  the  surveyors. 

In  their  lead  rode  the  chief  engineer — a  slender, 


The    Conquest  105 

wiry  man  with  a  black  mustache  and  piercing  eyes, 
that  seemed  to  observe  every  feature  of  surrounding 
prairie.  Behind  came  a  wagon  loaded  with  stakes, 
accompanied  by  several  men,  the  leader  of  whom 
was  setting  these  stakes  according  to  the  signal  of 
the  engineer  from  behind  the  transit.  Others,  on 
either  side,  were  also  driving  stakes.  They  were 
not  only  running  a  straight  survey,  but  were  cross- 
sectioning  as  they  went. 

Even  though  the  presence  of  these  surveyors 
was  now  an  established  fact,  these  were  days  of 
grave  uncertainties  as  to  just  what  route  the  road 
would  take.  The  suspense  was  almost  equal  to 
that  of  the  criminal,  as  he  awaits  the  verdict  of  the 
jury.  The  valleys  and  divides  lay  in  such  a  man 
ner  that  it  was  possible  the  survey  would  extend 
along  the  Monca,  thus  passing  through  Calias. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  probable  that  it  would 
continue  to  the  Northwest  through  Kirk  and  Me- 
gory,  thus  missing  Calias  altogether. 

When  the  surveyors  reached  a  point  five  miles 
west  of  Hedrick,  they  swerved  to  the  northwest  and 
advanced  direcly  toward  Kirk.  This  looked  bad 
for  Calias. 

When  Ernest  Nicholson  had  learned  that  the 
surveyors  were  in  Oristown,  he  had  left  immediately 
for  parts  unknown  and  had  not  returned.  He  was 
in  reality  the  founder  of  Calias  and  many  of  the 
inhabitants  looked  to  him  as  their  leader,  and  de 
pended  upon  him  for  advice.  Although  he  had 
many  enemies  who  heaped  abuse  and  epithets 
upon  him— calling  him  a  liar,  braggard  and  "wind 
jammer"  when  boasting  of  their  own  independence 


106  The    Conquest 

and  self  respect — now  that  a  calamity  was  about 
to  befall  them,  and  their  fond  hopes  for  this  price 
less  mistress  of  prairie  were  about  to  be  wrecked 
upon  the  shoals  of  an  imaginary  railroad  survey, 
they  turned  toward  him  for  comfort,  as  moths  turn 
to  a  flame.  It  was  Ernest  here  and  Ernest  there. 
As  the  inevitable  progress  of  the  surveyors  pro 
ceeded  in  a  direct  line  for  Hedrick,  Kirk  and  Me- 
gory,  the  consternation  of  the  Caliasites  became 
more  intense  as  time  went  on,  and  the  anxiety  for 
Ernest  to  return  almost  resolved  itself  into  mutiny. 
It  became  so  significant,  that  at  one  time  it  ap 
peared  that  if  Ernest  had  only  appeared,  the  rail 
road  company  would  have  voluntarily  run  its  survey 
directly  to  Calias,  in  order  to  avoid  the  humiliation 
of  Ernest's  seizing  them  by  the  nape  of  the  neck  and 
marching  them,  survey,  cars  and  all,  right  into  the 
little  hamlet. 

Now  there  was  one  thing  everybody  seemed  to 
forget  or  to  overlook,  but  which  occurred  to  me  at 
the  time,  and  caused  me  to  become  skeptical  as  to 
the  possibilities  of  the  road  striking  Calias,  and 
that  was,  if  the  railroad  was  to  be  built  up  the 
Monca  Valley,  then  why  had  the  surveyors  come 
to  Oristown,  and  why  had  they  not  gotten  off  at 
Anona,  the  last  station  in  the  Monca  Valley,  where 
the  tracks  climb  the  grade  to  Fairview. 

Many  of  the  Megory  and  Kirk  boosters  had  taken 
advantage  of  Ernest's  absence,  and  through  enthu 
siasm  attending  the  advent  of  the  railroad  survey, 
persuaded  several  of  Calias'  business  men  to  go 
into  fusion  in  their  respective  towns.  The  remain 
ing  handful  consoled  each  other  by  prophecies  of 
what  Ernest  would  do  when  he  returned,  and  plied 


TheConquest  107 

each  other  for  expressions  of  theories,  and  ways  and 
means  of  injecting  enthusiasm  into  the  local  situa 
tion.  Thousands  of  theories  were  given  expression, 
consideration,  and  rejection,  and  the  old  one  that 
all  railroads  follow  valleys  and  streams  was  finally 
adhered  to.  I  was  singled  out  to  give  corroborative 
proof  of  this  last,  by  reason  of  my  railroad  experience. 

I  was  suddenly  seized  with  a  short  memory,  much 
to  my  embarrassment,  as  I  felt  all  eyes  turned  upon 
me.  However,  the  crowd  were  looking  for  encour 
agement  and  spoke  up  in  chorus:  " Don't  the  rail 
roads  always  follow  valleys?"  It  suddenly  oc 
curred  to  me,  that  with  all  the  thousands  of  miles 
of  travel  to  my  credit  and  the  many  different  states 
I  had  traveled  through,  with  all  their  rough  and 
smooth  territory,  I  had  not  observed  whether  the 
tracks  followed  the  valleys  or  otherwise.  How 
ever,  I  intimated  that  I  thought  they  did.  "Of 
course  they  do",  my  remark  was  answered  in  chorus. 

Since  then  I  have  noticed  that  a  railway  does  in 
variably  follow  a  valley,  if  it  is  a  large  one;  and 
small  rivers  make  excellent  routes,  but  never  crooked 
little  streams  like  the  Monca.  When  it  comes  to 
such  creeks,  and  there  is  a  table  land  above,  as  soon 
as  the  road  can  get  out,  it  usually  stays  out. 
This  was  the  situation  of  the  C.  &  R.  W.  It  came 
some  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  up  the  Monca,  from 
where  it  empties  into  the  Missouri.  There  are  four 
teen  bridges  across  in  that  many  miles,  which  were 
and  still  are,  always  going  out  during  high  water. 

It  came  this  route  because  there  was  no  other 
way  to  come,  but  when  it  got  to  Anona,  as  has  been 
said,  it  climbed  a  four  per  cent  grade  to  get  out 
and  it  stayed  out. 


108  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XVI 
MEGORY'S  DAY 

HE  first  day  of  May  was  a  local  holiday 
in  Megory,  held  in  honor  of  the  first 
anniversary  of  the  day  when  all  settlers 
had  to  be  on  their  claims;  and  it  was 
raining.  During  the  first  years  on  the  Little  Crow 
we  were  deluged  with  rainfall,  but  this  day  the  in 
clement  weather  was  disregarded.  It  was  Settler's 
Day  and  everybody  for  miles  around  had  journeyed 
thither  to  celebrate — not  only  Settler's  Day,  but 
also  the  advent  of  the  railroad.  Only  the  day 
before,  the  surveyors  had  pitched  their  tents  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  town,  and  on  this  day  they  could 
be  seen  calmly  sighting  their  way  across  the  south 
side  of  the  embryo  city.  Megory  was  the  scene 
of  a  continous  round  of  revelry.  Five  saloons  were 
crowded  to  overflowing,  and  a  score  of  bartenders 
served  thousands  of  thirsty  throats;  while  on  the 
side  opposite  from  the  bar,  and  in  the  rear,  gambling 
was  in  full  blast.  Professionals,  "tin  horns," 
and  " pikers",  in  their  shirt  sleeves  worked  away 
feverishly  drawing  in  and  paying  money  to  the 
crowd  that  surged  around  the  Roulette,  the  Chuck- 
luck,  and  the  Faro-bank.  It  seemed  as  though 
everybody  drank  and  gambled.  "This  is  Megory's 
Day",  they  called  between  drinks,  and  it  would  echo 
with  "have  another,"  "watch  Megory  grow." 

Written  in  big  letters  and  hung  all  along  the 
streets  were  huge  signs  which  read  "Megory,  the 
gateway  to  a  million  acres  of  the  richest  land  in  the 


The    Conquest  109 

world."  "Megory,  the  future  metropolis  of  the 
Little  Crow,  Watch  her  grow!  Watch  her  grow!" 
The  board  walk  four  feet  wide  could  not  hold  the 
crowd.  It  was  a  day  of  frenzied  celebration — a 
day  when  no  one  dared  mention  Nicholson's  name 
unless  they  wanted  to  hear  them  called  liars,  wind 
jammers,  and  all  a  bluff. 

Ernest  was  still  in  the  East  and  no  one  seemed  to 
know  where  he  was,  or  what  he  was  doing.  The 
surveyors  had  passed  through  Megory  and  extended 
the  survey  to  the  county  line,  five  miles  west  of  the 
town.  The  right-of-way  man  was  following  and 
had  just  arrived  from  Hedrick  and  Kirk,  where  he 
had  made  the  same  offer  he  was  now  making 
Megory.  "If"  he  said,  addressing  the  "town 
dads"  and  he  seemed  to  want  it  clearly  understood, 
"the  C.  &  R.  W.  builds  to  Megory,  we  want  you  to 
buy  the  right-of-way  three  miles  east  and  four  miles 
west  of  the  town." 

Then  Governor  Reulback,  known  as  the  "Squat 
ter  Governor,"  acting  as  spokesman  for  the  citizens, 
arose  from  his  seat  on  the  rude  platform,  and  before 
accepting  the  proposition — needless  to  say  it  was 
accepted — called  on  different  individuals  for  short 
talks.  Among  others  he  called  on  Ernest  Nichol 
son  ;  but  Frank,  the  Junior  member  of  the  firm,  arose 
and  answered  that  Ernest  was  away  engaged  in 
purchasing  the  C.  &  R.  W.  railroad  and  that  he, 
answering  for  Ernest,  had  nothing  to  say.  A  hush 
fell  on  the  crowd,  but  Governor  Reulbach,  who 
possessed  a  well  defined  sense  of  humor,  responded 
with  a  joke,  saying,  "Mr.  Nicholson's  being  away 
purchasing  the  C.  &  R.  W.  railroad  reminds  me  of 


110  The    Conquest 

the  Irishman  who  played  poker  all  night,  and  the 
next  morning,  yawning  and  stretching  himself,  said, 
"Oi  lost  nine  hundred  dollars  last  night  and  seven 
and  one-half  of  it  was  cash." 

The  backbone  of  the  town  was  beginning  to 
weaken,  while  there  were  many  who  continued  to 
insist  that  there  was  hope.  Others  contracted 
rheumatism  from  vigils  at  the  surveyor's  camp,  in 
vain  hope  of  gaining  some  information  as  to  the 
proposed  direction  of  the  right-of-way.  The  pur 
chasing  of  the  right-of-way  and  the  unloading  of 
carload  after  carload  of  contracting  material  at 
Oristown  did  little  to  encourage  the  belief  that  there 
was  a  ghost  of  a  show  for  Calias. 

In  a  few  days  corral  tents  were  decorating  the 
right-of-way  at  intervals  of  two  miles,  all  the  way 
from  Oristown  to  Megory.  In  the  early  morning, 
as  the  sound  of  distant  thunder,  could  be  heard  the 
dull  thud  of  clods  and  dirt  dropping  into  the  wagon 
from  the  elevator  of  the  excavator;  also  the  famil 
iar  "jup"  and  the  thud  of  the  "skinner's"  lines  as 
they  struck  the  mules,  in  Calias  one  and  one-half 
miles  away. 

A  very  much  discouraged  and  weary  crowd  met 
Ernest  when  he  returned,  but  even  in  defeat  this 
young  man's  personality  was  pleasing.  He  was 
frank  in  telling  the  people  that  he  had  done  all  that 
he  could.  He  had  gone  to  Omaha  where  his  father 
in-law  joined  him,  thence  to  Des  Moines,  where 
his  father  maintained  his  office  as  president  of  an 
insurance  company,  that  made  loans  on  Little  Crow 
land.  Together  with  two  capitalists,  friends  of 
his  father,  they  had  gone  into  Chicago  and  held 


The    Conquest  111 

a  conference  with  Marvin  Hewitt,  President  of 
the  C.  &  R.  W.  who  had  showed  them  the  blue 
prints,  and,  as  he  put  it,  any  reasonable  man  could 
see  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  to  strike  Calias 
in  the  route  they  desired  to  go.  The  railroad 
wanted  to  strike  the  Government  town  sites,  but 
the  president  told  them  that  if  at  any  time  he  could 
do  them  a  favor  to  call  on  him,  and  he  would  gladly 
do  so. 

In  a  few  days  a  man  named  John  Nodgen  came  to 
Calias.  Towns  which  had  failed  to  get  a  road 
looked  upon  him  in  the  way  a  sick  man  would  an 
undertaker.  He  was  a  red-haired  Irishman  with 
teeth  wide  apart  and  wildish  blue  eyes,  who  had  the 
reputation  of  moving  more  towns  than  any  other  one 
man.  He  brought  horses  and  wagons,  block  and 
tackle,  and  massive  steel  trucks.  He  swore  like  a 
stranded  sailor,  and  declared  they  would  hold  up 
any  two  buildings  in  Calias. 

The  saloon  was  the  first  building  deserted.  The 
stock  had  not  been  removed  when  the  house  movers 
arrived,  and  in  some  way  they  got  the  door  open 
and  helped  themselves  to  the  "booze/'  and  when 
full  enough  to  be  good  and  noisy,  began  jacking  up 
the  building  that  had  been  the  pride  of  the  hopeful 
Caliasites.  In  a  few  weeks  a  large  part  of  what 
had  been  Calias  was  in  Megory  and  a  small  part  in 
Kirk. 

It  had  stopped  raining  for  a  while,  and  several 
large  buildings  were  still  on  the  move  to  Megory 
when  the  rain  set  in  again.  This  was  the  latter  part 
of  July  and  how  it  did  rain,  every  day  and  night. 
One  store  building  one  hundred  feet  long  had  been 


112  The    Conquest 

cut  in  two  so  as  to  facilitate  moving,  and  the  rains 
caught  it  half  way  on  the  road  to  Megory.  After 
many  days  of  sticking  and  floundering  around  in 
the  mud,  at  a  cost  of  over  fourteen  hundred  dollars 
for  the  moving  alone,  not  counting  the  goods 
spoiled,  it  arrived  at  its  new  home.  The  building 
in  the  beginning  had  cost  only  twenty-three  hundred 
dollars,  out  of  which  thirty  cents  per  hundred  had 
been  paid  for  local  freighting  from  Oristown.  The 
merchant  paid  one  thousand  dollars  for  his  lot  in 
Megory,  and  received  ten  dollars  for  the  one  he 
left  in  Calias. 

This  was  the  reason  why  Rattlesnake  Jack's 
father  and  I  could  not  get  together  when  he  came 
out  and  showed  me  Rattlesnake  Jack's  papers. 
It  was  bad  and  I  readily  agreed  with  him.  I  also 
agreed  to  sign  a  quit  claim  deed,  thereby  clearing 
the  place,  so  she  could  complete  her  proof.  Every 
thing  went  along  all  right,  until  it  came  to  signing 
up.  Then  I  suggested  that  as  I  had  broken  eighty 
acres  of  prairie,  the  railroad  was  in  course  of  con 
struction,  and  land  had  materially  increased  in 
valuation — having  sold  as  high  as  five  thousand 
dollars  a  quarter  section — I  should  have  a  guarantee 
that  he  would  sell  the  place  back  to  me  when  the 
matter  had  been  cleared  up. 

"I  will  see  that  you  get  the  place  back" — he 
pretended  to  reassure  me — when  she  proves  up 
again. 

"Then  we  will  draw  up  an  agreement  to  that 
effect  and  make  it  one  thousand  dollars  over  what 
I  paid",  I  suggested. 

"I  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind,"  he  roared, 
brandishing  his  arms  as  though  he  wanted  to  fight, 


The    Conquest  113 

"and  if  you  will  not  sign  a  quit  claim  without  such 
an  agreement,  I  will  have  Jack  blow  the  whole 
thing,  that  is  what  I  will  do,  do  you  hear?"  He 
fairly  yelled,  leaning  forward  and  pointing  his 
finger  at  me  in  a  threatening  manner. 

"Then  we  will  call  it  off  for  today,"  I  replied  with 
decision,  and  we  did.  I  confess  however,  I  was 
rather  frightened.  In  the  beginning  I  had  not 
worried,  as  he  held  a  first  mortgage  of  one  thousand, 
five  hundred  dollars,  I  had  felt  safe  and  thought 
that  they  had  to  make  good  to  me  in  order  to  pro 
tect  their  own  interests.  But  now  as  I  thought 
the  matter  over  it  began  to  look  different.  If  he 
should  have  her  relinquish,  then  where  would  I 
be,  and  the  one  thousand,  five  hundred  dollars  I 
had  paid  them? 

I  was  very  much  disturbed  and  called  on  Ernest 
Nicholson  and  informed  him  how  the  matter  stood. 
He  listened  carefully  and  when  I  was  through  he 
said: 

"They  gave  you  a  warranty  deed,  did  they  not?" 
"Yes,  I  replied,  it  is  over  at  the  bank  of  Calias." 
"Then  let  it  stay  there.     Tell  him,  or  the  old  man 
rather,  to  have  the  girl  complete  sufficient  resi 
dence,  then  secure  you  for  all  the  place  is  worth  at 
the  time;  then,  and  not  before,  sign  a  quit  claim,  and 
if  they  want  to  sell  you  the  place,  well  and  good;  if 
not,  you  will  have  enough  to  buy  another."    And 
I  followed  his  advice. 

It  was  fourteen  months,  however,  before  the 
Scotch-Irish  blood  in  him  would  submit  to  it.  But 
there  was  nothing  he  could  do,  for  the  girl 
had  given  me  a  deed  to  something  she  did  not  have 
title  to  herself,  and  had  accepted  one  thousand, 

8 


114  The    Conquest 

five  hundred  dollars  in  cash  from  me  in  return.  As 
the  matter  stood,  I  was  an  innocent  party. 

About  this  time  I  became  imbued  with  a  feeling 
that  I  would  like  "most  awfully  well"  to  have  a 
little  help-mate  to  love  and  cheer  me.  How  often 
I  longed  for  company  to  break  the  awful  and  monot 
onous  lonesomeness  that  occasionally  enveloped  me. 
At  that  time,  as  now,  I  thought  a  darling  little 
colored  girl,  to  share  all  my  trouble  and  grief,  would 
be  interesting  indeed.  Often  my  thoughts  had 
reverted  to  the  little  town  in  Illinois,  and  I  had  pic 
tured  Jessie  caring  for  the  little  sod  house  and  cheer 
ing  me  when  I  came  from  the  fields.  For  a  time,  such 
blissful  thoughts  sufficed  the  longing  in  my  heart, 
but  were  soon  banished  when  I  recalled  her  seeming 
preference  for  the  three  dollar  a  week  menial, 
another  attack  of  the  blues  would  follow,  and  my 
day  dreams  became  as  mist  before  the  sun. 

About  this  time  I  began  what  developed  into 
a  flirtatious  correspondence  with  a  St.  Louis  octo 
roon.  She  was  a  trained  nurse;  very  attractive, 
and  wrote  such  charming  and  interesting  letters, 
that  for  a  time  they  afforded  me  quite  as  much 
entertainment,  perhaps  more,  than  actual  company 
would  have  done.  In  fact  I  became  so  enamored 
with  her  that  I  nearly  lost  my  emotional  mind,  and 
almost  succumbed  to  her  encouragement  toward 
a  marriage  proposal.  The  death  of  three  of  my 
best  horses  that  fall  diverted  my  interest;  she 
ceased  the  epistolary  courtship,  and  I  continued 
to  batch. 

Doc,  my  big  horse,  got  stuck  in  the  creek  and  was 
drowned.  The  loss  of  Doc  was  hardest  for  me  to 
bear,  for  he  was  a  young  horse,  full  of  life,  and  I  had 


The    Conquest  115 

grown  fond  of  him.  Jenny  mule  would  stand  for 
hours  every  night  and  whinny  for  him. 

In  November,  Bolivar,  his  mate — the  horse  I 
had  paid  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars  for  not 
nine  months  before — got  into  the  wheat,  became 
foundered,  and  died. 

While  freighting  from  Oristown,  in  December, 
one  of  a  team  of  dapple  grays  fell  and  killed  himself. 
So  in  three  months  I  lost  three  horses  that  had 
cost  over  four  hundred  dollars,  and  the  last  had  not 
even  been  paid  for.  I  had  only  three  left,  the  other 
dapple  gray,  Jenny  mule,  and  "Old  Grayhead," 
the  relic  of  my  horse-trading  days.  I  had  put  in 
a  large  crop  of  wheat  the  spring  before  and  had 
threshed  only  a  small  part  of  it  before  the  cold 
winter  set  in,  and  the  snow  made  it  quite  impossible 
to  complete  threshing  before  spring. 

That  was  one  of  the  cold  winters  which  usually 
follow  a  wet  summer,  and  I  nearly  froze  in  my  little 
old  soddy,  before  the  warm  spring  days  set  in.  Sod 
houses  are  warm  as  long  as  the  mice,  rats,  and 
gophers  do  not  bore  them  full  of  holes,  but  as  they 
had  made  a  good  job  tunneling  mine,  I  was  left  to 
welcome  the  breezy  atmosphere,  and  I  did  not  think 
the  charming  nurse  would  be  very  happy  in  such 
a  mess  "nohow."  The  thought  that  I  was  not 
mean  enough  to  ask  her  to  marry  me  and  bring  her 
into  it,  was  consoling  indeed. 

Since  I  shall  have  much  to  relate  farther  along 
concerning  the  curious  and  many  sided  relations 
that  existed  between  Calias,  Megory,  and  other  con 
tending  and  jealous  communities,  let  me  drop  this 
and  return  to  the  removal  of  Calias  to  Megory. 

The  Nicholson  Brothers  had  already  installed  an 


116  TheConquest 

office  in  the  successful  town,  and  offered  to  move 
their  interests  to  that  place  and  combine  with  Meg- 
ory  in  making  the  town  a  metropolis.  But  the 
town  dads,  feeling  they  were  entirely  responsible 
for  the  road  striking  the  town,  with  the  flush 
of  victory  and  the  sensation  of  empire  builders, 
disdained  the  offer. 

In  this  Megory  had  made  the  most  stupid  mistake 
of  her  life,  and  which  later  became  almost  monu 
mental  in  its  proportions.  It  will  be  seen  how  in  the 
flush  of  apparent  victory  she  lost  her  head,  and  looked 
back  to  stare  and  reflect  at  the  retreating  and 
temporary  triumph  of  her  youth;  and  in  that  in 
stant  the  banner  of  victory  was  snatched  from  her 
fingers  by  those  who  offered  to  make  her  apparent 
victory  real,  and  who  ran  swiftly,  skillfully,  and 
successfully  to  a  new  and  impregnable  retreat  of 
their  own. 

The  Megory  town  dads  were  fairly  bursting 
with  rustic  pride,  and  were  being  wined  and  dined 
like  kings,  by  the  citizens  of  the  town — who  had 
contributed  the  wherewith  to  pay  for  the  seven 
miles  of  right-of-way.  Besides,  the  dads  were 
puffed  young  roosters  just  beginning  to  crow,  and 
were  boastful  as  well.  So  Nicholson  Brothers  got 
the  horse  laugh,  which  implied  that  Megory  did 
not  need  them.  "We  have  made  Megory  and  now 
watch  her  grow.  Haw!  Haw!  Haw!  Watch  her  grow," 
came  the  cry,  when  the  report  spread  that  the  town 
dads  had  turned  Nicholson's  offer  down. 

Megory  was  the  big  I  am  of  the  Little  Crow. 
Then  Ernest  went  away  on  another  long  trip.  It 
was  cold  weather,  with  the  ground  frozen,  when  he 
returned. 


TheConquest  117 

CHAPTER  XVII 

ERNEST  NICHOLSON'S  RETURN— THE  BUILDING  WEST 
OF  TOWN— " WHAT'S  IT  ALL  ABOUT" 


HE  big  hotel  from  Calias  had  not  long 
since  been  unloaded  and  decorated  a 
corner  lot  in  Megory.  All  that  re- 

mained   in   Calias   were   the   buildings 

belonging  to  Nicholson  Brothers,  consisting  of  an 
old  two-story  frame  hotel,  a  two-story  bank,  the 
saloon,  drug  store,  their  own  office  and  a  few  smaller 
ones.  It  was  a  hard  life  for  the  Caliasites  and  the 
Megoryites  were  not  inclined  to  soften  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  she  was  growing  like  a  mushroom. 
Everything  tended  to  make  it  the  prairie  metro 
polis;  land  was  booming,  and  buyers  were  plentiful. 
Capital  was  also  finding  its  way  to  the  town,  and 
nothing  to  disturb  the  visible  prosperity. 

But  a  shrewd  person,  at  that  very  time,  had  control 
of  machinery  that  would  cause  a  radical  change  in 
this  community,  and  in  a  very  short  time  too.  This 
man  was  Ernest  Nicholson,  and  referring  to  his 
return,  I  was  at  the  depot  in  Oristown  the  day  he 
arrived.  There  he  boarded  an  auto  and  went  west 
to  Megory.  On  his  arrival  there,  he  ordered  John 
Nogden  to  proceed  to  Calias,  load  the  bank  build 
ing,  get  all  the  horses  obtainable,  and  proceed  at 
once  to  haul  the  building  to — no,  not  to  Megory — 
this  is  what  the  Megoryites  thought,  when,  with 
seventy-six  head  of  horses  hitched  to  it,  they  saw 
the  bank  of  Calias  coming  toward  Megory.  But 
when  it  got  to  within  half  a  mile  of  the  south 


118  The    Conquest 

side,  swerved  off  to  the  west.  About  six  that 
evening,  when  the  sun  went  down,  the  Bank  of 
Calias  was  sitting  on  the  side  of  a  hill  that  sloped 
to  the  north,  near  the  end  of  the  survey. 

Now  what  did  it  mean?  That  was  the  question 
that  everybody  began  asking  everybody  else. 
What  was  up?  Why  was  Ernest  Nicholson  moving 
the  bank  of  Calias  five  miles  west  of  Megory  and 
setting  it  down  on  or  near  the  end  of  the  survey? 
Theie  were  so  many  [questions  being  asked  with 
no  one  to  answer,  that  it  amused  me.  Then  some 
one  suggested  that  it  might  be  the  same  old  game, 
and  here  would  come  a  pause,  then  the  question, 
"What  old  game?"  "Why,  another  Calias?"— 
some  bait  to  make  money.  Then,  "Oh,  I  see," 
said  the  wise  town  dads,  just  a  hoax.  That  answered 
the  question,  just  a  snare  to  catch  the  unwary. 
Tell  them  that  the  railroad  would  build  to  the  Tipp 
County  line.  Sell  them  some  lots,  for  that  is  what 
the  "bluff"  meant.  Get  their  good  money  and 
then,  Oh,  Ha!  Ha!  Ha!  it  was  too  funny  when  one 
saw  the  joke,  and  Megoryites  continued  to  laugh. 
Had  not  Nicholson  Brothers  said  a  whole  lot  about 
getting  the  railroad;  and  that  it  was  sure  coming 
up  the  Monca.  It  had  come,  had  it  not.  Haw! 
Haw!  Haw!  Ho!  Ho!  Ho!  just  another  Nicholson 
stall,  Haw!  Haw!  Haw!  and  Nicholsons  got  the 
laugh  again.  The  railroad  is  in  Megory,  and  here 
it  will  stop  for  ten  years.  One  hundred  thousand 
people  will  come  to  Megory  to  register  for  Tipp 
County  lands,  and  "Watch  Megory  grow"  was  all 
that  could  be  heard. 

Ernest  would  come  to  Megory,  have  a  pleasant 


The    Conquest  119 

chat,  treat  the  boys,  tell  a  funny  story,  and  be 
off.  Nobody  was  mean  enough  or  bold  enough 
to  tell  him  to  his  face  any  of  the  things  they  told 
to  his  back. 

Ernest  was  never  known  to  say  anything  about 
it.  His  scheme  simply  kept  John  Nogden  moving 
buildings.  He  wrote  checks  in  payment,  that  the 
bank  of  Calias  cashed,  for  it  was  open  for  business 
the  next  day  after  it  had  been  moved  out  on  the 
prairie,  five  miles  west  of  Megory. 

The  court  record  showed  six  quarter  sections  of 
land  west  of  town  had  recently  been  transferred; 
the  name  of  the  receiver  was  unknown  to  anyone 
in  Megory,  but  such  prices,  forty  to  fifty  dollars 
per  acre.  The  people  who  had  sold,  brought  the 
money  to  the  Megory  banks,  and  deposited  it. 
All  they  seemed  to  know  was  that  someone  drove 
up  to  their  house  and  asked  if  they  wanted  to  sell. 
Some  did  not,  while  others  said  they  were  only 
five  miles  from  Megory,  and  if  they  sold  they  would 
have  to  have  a  big  price,  because  Megory  was  the 
"Town  of  the  Little  Crow"  and  the  gateway  to 
acres  of  the  finest  land  in  the  world,  to  be  opened 
soon.  "What  is  your  price?"  he  would  ask,  and 
whether  it  was  forty,  forty-five  or  fifty  per  acre, 
he  bought  it. 

This  must  have  gone  on  for  sixty  days  with  every 
body  wondering  "what  it  was  all  about",  until  it 
got  on  the  nerves  of  the  Megoryites;  and  even  the 
town  dads  began  to  get  a  little  fearful.  When 
Ernest  was  approached  he  would  wink  wisely, 
hand  out  a  cigar  or  buy  a  drink,  but  he  never  made 
anybody  the  wiser. 


120  The    Conquest 

A  lady  came  out  from  Des  Moines,  bought  a  lot, 
and  let  a  contract  for  a  hotel  building  24x140,  and 
work  was  begun  on  it  immediately.  This  was 
getting  ahead  of  Megory,  where  a  hotel  had  just 
been  completed  25x100  feet,  said  by  the  Megoryites 
to  be  the  "best"  west  of  a  town  of  six  thousand 
population,  one  hundred  fifty  miles  down  the 
road.  Whenever  anything  like  a  real  building 
goes  up  in  a  little  town  on  the  prairie,  with  their 
collection  of  shacks,  it  is  always  called  "the  best 
building"  between  there  and  somewhere  else. 

I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  anxiety  with  which  the 
people  watched  the  building  which  continued  to 
go  up  west  of  Megory,  and  still  no  one  there  seemed 
willing  to  admit  that  Nicholson  Brothers  were 
"live,"  but  spent  their  argument  in  trying  to  con 
vince  someone  that  they  were  only  wind  jammers  and 
manipulators  of  knavish  plots,  to  immesh  the  credu 
lous. 

What  actually  happened  was  this,  and  Ernest 
told  me  about  it  afterwards  in  about  the  following 
words: 

"Well,  Oscar,  after  Megory  turned  our  offer 
down,  I  knew  there  were  just  two  things  to  do, 
and  that  was,  to  either  make  good  or  leave  the 
country.  Megory  is  full  of  a  lot  of  fellows  that 
have  never  known  anything  but  Keya  Paha  county, 
and  when  the  road  missed  Calias,  and  struck 
Megory,  they  took  the  credit  for  displaying  a  super 
ior  knowledge.  I  knew  we  were  going  to  be  the 
big  laughing  stock  of  the  reservation,  and  since  I 
did  not  intend  to  leave  the  country,  I  got  to  think 
ing.  The  more  I  pondered  the  matter,  the  more 


The    Conquest  121 

determined  I  became  that  something  had  to  be 
done,  and  I  finally  made  up  my  mind  to  do  it." 
Ernest  Nicholson  was  not  the  kind  of  a  man  to 
make  idle  declarations.  "I  went  down  to  Omaha 
and  saw  some  business  friends  of  mine  and  suggested 
to  them  just  what  I  intended  to  do,  thence  to  Des 
Moines  and  got  father,  and  again  we  went  into 
Chicago  and  secured  an  appointment  with  Hewitt, 
who  listened  attentively  to  all  that  we  had  to  say, 
and  the  import  of  this  was  that  Megory,  being  over 
five  miles  east  of  the  Tipp  County  line,  it  was  diffi 
cult  to  drive  range  cattle  that  distance  through 
a  settled  country.  They  are  so  unused  to  anything 
that  resembles  civilization,  that  ranchers  hate  to 
drive  even  five  miles  through  a  settled  country, 
besides  the  annoyance  it  would  habitually  cause 
contrary  farmers,  when  it  comes  to  accommodating 
the  ranchers.  But  that  is  not  all.  With  sixty-six 
feet  open  between  the  wire  fences,  the  range  cattle 
at  any  time  are  liable  to  start  a  stampede,  go  right 
through,  and  a  lot  of  damage  follows.  I  showed 
him  that  most  of  the  cattle  men  were  still  driving 
their  stock  north  and  shipping  over  the  C.  P.  & 
St.  L.  Now  knowing  that  the  directors  had  or 
dered  the  extension  of  the  line  to  get  the  cattle 
business,  Hewitt  looked  serious,  finally  arose  from 
his  chair,  and  went  over  to  a  map  that  entirely 
covered  the  side  of  the  wall  and  showed  all  the  lines 
of  the  C.  &  R.  W.  He  meditated  a  few  minutes 
and  then  turned  around  and  said:  "Go  back  and 
buy  the  land  that  has  been  described. "  It  all 
seemed  simple  enough  when  it  was  done. 

By  the  time  that  the  extension  had  been  com- 


122  The    Conquest 

pleted  to  Megory,  the  building  that  had  been  moved 
west  of  town  had  company  in  the  way  of  many  new 
ones,  and  by  this  time  comprised  quite  a  burg, 
and  claimed  the  name  of  New  Calias.  The  new 
was  to  distinguish  between  its  old  site  and  its 
present  one.  After  Megory  turned  them  down, 
Ernest  had  made  a  declaration  or  defiance  that  he 
would  build  a  town  on  the  Little  Crow  and  its  name 
would  be  Calias. 


TheConquest  123 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

COMES  STANELY,  THE  CHIEF  ENGINEER 

1GORY  was  still  on  the  boom,  not  quite 
as  much  as  the  summer  before,  but 
more  than  it  was  some  time  later,  for 

as  yet  New  Calias  was  still  regarded  as 

a  joke,  until  one  day  Stanley,  the  same  wiry- 
looking  individual  with  the  black  mustache  and 
the  piercing  eyes,  got  off  the  stage  at  Megory  and 
began  to  do  the  same  work  he  had  'started  west 
of  Oristown  the  year  before. 

Oh,  it  was  a  shame  to  thus  wreck  the  selfish  dreams 
of  these  Megoryites  upon  the  rocks  of  their  own 
shortsightedness.  Stanley  was  followed  a  few  days 
later  by  a  grade  contractor,  who  had  been  to  Me 
gory  the  summer  before  and  who  had  became  popu 
lar  around  town,  and  was  known  to  be  a  good 
spender.  They  had  bidden  him  good-bye  along  in 
December,  and  although  nothing  was  said  about 
it,  the  truth  was,  Megory  did  not  wish  to  see  any 
more  railroad  contractors,  for  a  while,  not  for  five 
or  ten  years  anyway. 

It  is  a  peculiar  thing  that  when  a  railroad  stops 
at  some  little  western  burg,  that  it  is  always  going 
to  stay  ten  or  twenty  years.  This  has  always  been 
the  case  before,  according  to  the  towns  at  the  end 
of  the  line,  and  at  this  time  Megory  was  of  the  same 
opinion  as  regarded  the  extension  to  New  Calias. 
So  Oristown  had  been  in  regard  to  the  extension 
to  Megory.  But  Trelway  built  the  road  to  New 
Calias,  and  built  it  the  quickest  I  ever  saw  a  road 


124  The    Conquest 

built.  The  first  train  came  to  Megory  on  a  Sunday 
in  June — (Schedules  always  commence  on  Sunday) 
and  September  found  the  same  train  in  Calias, 
the  "New"  having  been  dropped. 

Megoryites  admitted  very  grudgingly,  a  short 
time  before,  that  the  train  would  go  on  to  Calias 
but  would  return  to  Megory  to  stay  over  night, 
where  it  left  at  six  o'clock  the  following  morning. 
Now  at  Megory  the  road  had  a  "Y"  that  ran  onto 
a  pasture  on  a  two  years  lease,  while  at  Calias  coal 
chutes,  a  "Y",  a  turning  table,  a  round  house,  and 
a  large  freight  depot  were  erected. 

And  then  began  one  of  the  most  bitter  fights 
between  towns  that  I  ever  saw  or  even  read  about. 

Five  miles  apart,  with  Calias  perched  on  another 
hill,  and  like  the  old  site,  could  be  seen  from  miles 
around.  Now  the  terminus,  it  loomed  conspicu 
ously.  It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  when  the 
reservation  to  the  west  opened,  Calias  was  in  the 
right  position  to  handle  the  crowds  that  came  to 
the  territory  to  the  west,  instead  of  Megory.  Me 
gory  contended,  however,  that  Calias,  located  on 
such  a  hill,  could  never  hope  for  an  abundance  of 
good  water  and  therefore  could  not  compete  with 
Megory,  with  her  natural  advantages,  such  as  an 
abundance  of  good  soft  water,  which  was  obtainable 
anywhere  in  town. 

There  are  certain  things  concrete  in  the  future 
growth  of  a  prairie  town;  the  first  is,  has  it  a  rail 
road;  the  next  is,  is  the  agricultural  territory  suffi 
cient  to  support  a  good  live  town  (a  fair  sized  town 
in  either  one  of  the  Dakotas  has  from  one  thousand 
to  three  thousand  inhabitants);  and  last,  are  the 


The    Conquest  125 

business  men  of  the  town  modern,  progressive,  and 
up  to  date.  In  this  respect  Calias  had  the  ad 
vantage  over  Megory,  as  will  be  seen  later. 

Megory  became  my  postoffice  address  after  Calias 
had  moved  to  its  new  location,  and  about  that 
time  the  first  rural  mail  route  was  established 
on  the  reservation.  Megory  boasted  of  this. 
The  other  things  it  boasted  of,  was  its  great 
farming  territory.  For  miles  in  every  direction 
tributary  to  the  town,  the  land  was  ideal  for  farming 
purposes,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  bitter  rivalry 
between  the  two  towns,  Megory  had  the  big  end  of 
the  farm  trade.  They  could  see  nothing  else  but 
Megory,  which  helped  the  town's  business  consider 
ably. 


126  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XIX 

IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  KEYA  PAHA.     THE  RIVALS. 
THE  VIG1LANTS 

)THING  is  more  essential  to  the  up 
building  of  the  small  western  town, 
than  a  good  agricultural  territory,  and 
this  was  where  Calias  found  its  first 
handicap.  When  it  had  moved  to  its  new  loca 
tion,  scores  of  investors  had  flocked  to  the  town, 
paying  the  highest  prices  that  had  ever  been  paid 
for  lots  in  a  new  country  town,  of  its  kind,  in  the 
central  west. 

Twenty-five  miles  south  of  the  two  towns,  where 
a  sand  stream  known  as  the  Keya  Paha  wends  its 
way,  is  a  fertile  valley.  It  had  been  settled  thirty 
years  before  by  eastern  people,  who  hauled  their 
hogs  and  drove  their  cattle  and  sheep  fifty  miles 
in  a  southerly  direction,  to  a  railroad.  Although 
the  valley  could  not  be  surpassed  in  the  production 
of  corn,  wheat,  oats,  and  alfalfa,  the  highlands  on 
either  side  are  great  mountains  of  sand,  which  pro 
duce  nothing  but  a  long  reddish  grass,  that  stock 
will  not  eat  after  it  reaches  maturity,  and  which 
stands  in  bunches,  with  the  sand  blown  from  around 
its  roots,  to  such  an  extent  that  riding  or  driving 
over  it  is  very  difficult. 

These  hills  rise  to  heights  until  they  resemble 
the  Sierras,  and  near  the  top,  on  the  northwest  slope 
of  each,  are  cave-like  holes  where  the  strong  winds 
have  blown  a  squeegee. 

The  wagon  road  to  the  railway  on  the  south  was 
sandy  and  made  traveling  over  it  slow  and  hazard- 


The    Conquest  127 

ous  by  the  many  pits  and  dunes.  Therefore,  it  is 
to  be  seen,  when  the  C.  &  R.  W.  pushed  its  line 
through  Megory  County,  everything  that  had  been 
going  to  the  road  on  the  south  began  immediately 
to  come  to  the  road  on  the  north — where  good  hard 
roads  made  the  traveling  much  easier,  and  further 
more,  it  was  only  half  the  distance. 

Keya  Paha  County  was  about  as  lonely  a  place 
as  I  had  ever  seen.  After  the  sun  went  down,  the 
coyotes  from  the  adjacent  sand  hills,  in  a  series  of 
mournful  howls,  filled  the  air  with  a  noise  which 
echoed  and  re-echoed  throughout  the  valley,  like 
the  music  of  so  many  far-away  steam  calliopes  and 
filled  me  with  a  cold,  creepy  feeling.  For  thirty 
years  these  people  had  heard  no  other  sound  save  the 
same  monotonous  howls  and  saw  only  each  other. 
The  men  went  to  Omaha  occasionally  with  cattle, 
but  the  women  and  children  knew  little  else  but 
Keya  Paha  County. 

During  a  trip  into  this  valley  the  first  winter  I 
spent  on  the  homestead,  in  quest  of  seed  wheat, 
I  met  and  talked  with  families  who  had  children,  in 
some  instances  twenty  years  of  age,  who  had  never 
seen  a  colored  man.  Sometimes  the  little  tads 
would  run  from  me,  screaming  as  though  they  had 
met  a  lion  or  some  other  wild  beast  of  the  forest. 
At  one  place  where  I  stopped  over  night,  a  little 
girl  about  nine  years  of  age,  looked  at  me  with  so 
much  curiosity  that  I  became  amused,  finally 
coaxing  her  onto  my  knee.  She  continued  to  look 
hard  at  me,  then  meekly  reached  up  and  touched 
my  chin,  looked  into  my  eyes,  and  said:* 'Why  don't 
you  wash  your  face?"  When  supper  was  ready 


128  The    Conquest 

went  to  the  sink  and  washed  my  face  and  hands; 
she  watched  me  closely  in  the  meanwhile,  and  when 
I  was  through,  appeared  to  be  vexed  and  with  an 
expression  as  if  to  say:  "He  has  cleaned  it  thor 
oughly,  but  it  is  dirty  still." 

About  twenty  years  previous  to  this  time,  or  about 
ten  years  after  settlement  in  this  valley,  the  pioneers 
were  continually  robbed  of  much  of  their  young 
stock.  Thieving  outlaws  kept  up  a  continuous 
raid  on  the  young  cattle  and  colts,  driving  them  onto 
the  reservation,  where  they  disappeared.  This 
continued  for  years,  and  it  was  said  many  of  the 
county  officials  encouraged  it,  in  a  way,  by  delaying 
a  trial,  and  inasmuch  as  the  law  and  its  procedure 
was  very  inadequate,  on  account  of  the  county's 
remote  location,  the  criminals  were  rarely  punished. 

After  submitting  to  such  until  all  reasonable  pa 
tience  had  been  exhausted,  the  settlers  formed  "a 
vigilant  committee, "  and  meeted  out  punishment  to 
the  evil  doers,  who  had  become  over-bold  and  were 
well  known.  After  hanging  a  few,  as  well  as  whip 
ping  many,  the  vigilanters  ridded  the  county  of 
rustlers,  and  lived  in  peace  thereafter. 

At  the  time  the  railroad  was  built  to  Megory  there 
was  little  activity  other  than  the  common  routine 
attending  their  existence.  But  with  Megory 
twenty-five  miles  to  the  north,  and  many  of  her 
former  active  and  prosperous  citizens  living  there; 
and  while  board  walks  and  "shack"  buildings  still 
represented  the  Main  Street,  Megory  was  considered 
by  the  people  of  the  valley  very  much  of  a  city,  and 
a  great  place  to  pay  a  visit.  Many  had  never  seen 
or  ridden  on  a  railroad  train,  so  Megory  sounded  in 


TheConquest  129 

Keya  Paha  County  as  Chicago  does  to  the  down 
state  people  of  Illionis. 

The  people  of  Keya  Paha  County  had  grown 
prosperous,  however,  and  the  stock  shipments  com 
prised  many  train  loads,  during  an  active  market. 
Practically  all  this  was  coming  to  Megory  when 
Calias  began  to  loom  prominent  as  a  model  little 
city. 

I  could  see  two  distinct  classes,  or  personages,  in 
the  leaders  of  the  two  towns.  Beginning  with 
Ernest  Nicholson,  the  head  of  the  firm  of  Nicholson 
Brothers  and  called  by  Megoryites  "chief"  "high 
mogul,"  the  "big  it"  and  "I  am,"  in  absolute  control 
of  Calias  affairs;  and  the  former  Keya  Paha  County 
sand  rats — as  they  are  sometimes  called — running 
Megory.  The  two  contesting  parties  presented  a 
contrast  which  interested  me. 

The  Nicholson  Brothers  were  all  college-bred 
boys,  with  a  higher  conception  of  things  in  general; 
were  modern,  free  and  up-to-date.  While  Megory 's 
leaders  were  as  modern  as  could  be  expected,  but 
were  simply  outclassed  in  the  style  and  perfection 
that  the  Calias  bunch  presented.  Besides,  the 
merchants  and  business  men — in  the  "stock  yards 
west  of  Megory,"  as  Calias  was  cartooned  by  a 
Megory  editor,  were  much  of  the  same  ilk.  And 
referring  to  the  cartoon,  it  pictured  the  editor  of  the 
Calias  News  as  a  braying  jackass  in  a  stock  pen, 
which  brought  a  great  laugh  from  Megoryites,  but 
who  got  it  back,  however,  the  next  week  by  being 
pictured  asastagnant  pond,  with  two  Megory  editors 
as  a  couple  of  big  bull-frogs.  This  had  the  effect 
of  causing  the  town  to  begin  grading  the  streets, 

9 


130  The    Conquest 

putting  in  cement  walks  and  gutters,  for  Megory 
had  located  in  the  beginning  in  an  extremely  bad 
place.  The  town  was  located  in  a  low  place,  full  of 
alkali  spots,  buffalo  wallows  underlaid  with  hardpan, 
which  caused  the  surface  to  hold  water  to  such  an 
extent,  that,  when  rain  continued  to  fall  any 
length  of  time,  the  cellars  and  streets  stood  in  water. 

But  Megory  had  the  start,  with  the  largest  and 
best  territory,  which  had  by  this  time  been  developed 
into  improved  farms;  the  real  farmer  was  fast  replac 
ing  the  homesteader.  It  had  the  biggest  and  best 
banks.  Regardless  of  all  the  efficiency  of  Calias, 
it  appeared  weak  in  its  banking.  Now  a  farmer 
could  go  to  Nicholson  Brothers,  and  get  the  largest 
farm  loan  because  the  boys'  father  was  president  of 
an  insurance  company  that  made  the  loan,  but 
the  banks  there  were  short  in  the  supply  of 
time  loans  on  stock  security,  but  Calias'  greatest 
disadvantage  was,  that  directly  west  in  Tipp  County 
the  Indians  had  taken  their  allotments  within 
seven  or  eight  miles  of  the  town,  and  there  was 
hardly  a  quarter  section  to  be  homesteaded. 

Now  there  was  no  doubt  but  that  in  the  course 
of  time  the  Indian  allotments  would  be  bought, 
whenever  the  government  felt  disposed  to  grant 
the  Indian  a  patent;  which  under  the  laws  is 
not  supposed  to  be  issued  until  the  expiration  of 
twenty-five  years.  People,  however,  would  prob 
ably  lease  the  land,  break  it  up  and  farm  it;  but  that 
would  not  occur  until  some  future  date,  and  Calias 
needed  it  at  the  present  time. 

A  western  town,  in  most  instances,  gets  its  boom 
in  the  beginning,  for  later  a  dry  rot  seems  an  inevi- 


The    Conquest  131 

table  condition,  and  is  likely  to  overtake  it  after  the 
first  excitement  wears  away.  Resurrection  is  rare. 
These  were  the  conditions  that  faced  the  town  on 
the  Little  Crow,  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  year  of 
settlement. 


132  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XX 

THE  OUT  LAW'S  LAST  STAND 

'ER  the  vigilants  had  frightened  the 
outlaws  into  abandoning  their  opera 
tions  in  the  valley,  the  thieves  skulked 
across  the  reservation  to  a  strip  of  coun 
try  some  twenty-five  miles  northeast  of  where  Me- 
gory  now  stands.  Here,  on  the  east,  the  murky 
waters  of  the  Missouri  seek  their  level;  to  the 
north  the  White  River  runs  like  a  cow-path  through 
the  foot  hills — twisting  and  turning  into  innumerable 
bends,  with  its  lime-like  waters  lapping  the  sides, 
bringing  tons  of  shale  from  the  gorgeous,  dark  banks, 
into  its  current;  while  on  the  south  runs  the  Whet 
stone,  inclosed  by  many  rough,  ragged  brown  hills, 
and  to  the  west  are  the  breaks  of  Landing  Creek. 
In  an  angle  between  these  creeks  and  rivers,  lies  a 
perfect  table  land  known  as  Yully  Flats,  which  is 
the  most  perfectly  laying  land  and  has  the  richest 
soil  of  any  spot  on  the  Little  Crow.  It  took  its 
name  from  a  famous  outlaw  and  squaw-man,  by  the 
name  of  Jack  Yully.  With  him  the  thieves  from  the 
Keya  Paha  Valley  found  co-operation,  and  together 
had,  a  few  years  previously  operated  as  the  most 
notorious  band  of  cattle  rustlers  the  state  had 
known.  For  a  hundred  miles  in  every  direction 
this  band  plundered,  stole,  and  ran  the  cattle  and 
horses  Onto  the  flats,  where  they  were  protected  by 
the  breaks  of  the  creeks  and  rivers,  referred  to. 
Mixed  with  half,  quarter,  eighth  and  sixteenth 
breeds,  they  knew  every  nook  and  crook  of  the 


The    Conquest  133 

country.  These  operations  had  lasted  until  the 
year  of  the  Little  Crow  opening,  and  it  was  there 
that  Jack  Yully  made  his  last  stand. 

He  had  for  many  years  defied  the  laws  of  the 
county  and  state,  and  had  built  a  magnificent 
residence  near  a  spring  that  pours  its  sparkling 
waters  into  a  small  lake,  where  now  stands  a  sani 
tarium.  Yully  had  been  chief  overseer,  dictator, 
and  arbitrator  of  the  combined  forces  of  Little  Crow 
and  Keya  Paha  County  outlaws  and  mixed  bloods. 
The  end  came  when,  on  a  bright  day  in  June,  a  posse 
led  by  the  United  States  Marshal  sneaked  across 
the  Whetstone  and  secrected  themselves  in  a  cache 
between  Yully's  corral  and  the  house.  Yully  was 
seen  to  enter  the  corral  and  having  laid  a  trap,  a 
part  of  the  men,  came  in  from  another  direction  and 
made  as  if  to  advance  when  Yully  made  a  run  for 
his  house,  which  took  him  alongside  the  men  hidden. 
Before  he  could  change  his  course  he  was  halted  and 
asked  to  surrender.  He  answered  by  dropping  to 
the  opposite  side  of  the  horse  and  began  firing.  In 
the  skirmish  that  followed  the  horse  was  shot  and 
fell  on  Yully,  but  in  the  shot's  exchange  two  of  the 
posse  and  Yully  were  killed. 


134  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  BOOM 

IS  valuable  tract  of  land  comprising 
about  fifty  thousand  acres  had  been 
entered  after  the  opening,  by  settlers, 

and  lay  about  as  near  to  Kirk  as  it  did 

to  Megory,  hence  its  trade  was  sought  by  both 
towns,  but  with  Kirk  getting  the  larger  part  until 
Megory  established  a  mill,  which  paid  two  cents 
more  for  wheat,  and  the  farmers  took  advantage  by 
hauling  most  of  their  produce  to  the  former  town. 
This  included  another  strip  of  rich  territory  to  the 
north  of  Megory  and  west  of  Landing  Creek,  where 
the  soil  is  a  rich  gumbo,  and  the  township  thickly 
settled  so  it  is  readily  seen  that  Megory  was  ad 
vantageously  situated  to  draw  from  all  directions. 
This  soon  brought  such  a  volume  of  business  into  the 
town  as  to  make  the  most  fastidious  envy  it,  and 
the  Megoryites  were  well  aware  of  their  enviable 
position.  The  town  continued  to  grow  in  a  sound, 
substantial  way. 

Nicholson  Brothers  began  leading  booster  trade 
excursions  to  the  north,  south,  and  east,  with  Ernest 
at  the  head  in  a  big  "Packard"  making  clever 
speeches  and  inviting  all  the  farmers  to  come  to 
Calias,  where  a  meal  at  the  best  hotel  was  given 
free.  A  good,  live,  and  effective  commercial  club 
was  organized,  which  guaranteed  to  pay  all  a  hog, 
cow,  or  calf  would  bring  on  the  Omaha  market, 
minus  the  freight  and  expenses. 

Ernest  would  explain  with  deep  sincerity  which 


The    Conquest  135 

impressed  the  farmers  of  the  valley,  as  well  as  the 
settlers  on  the  Little  Crow,  that  Calias  wanted  a 
share  of  their  business,  and  was  willing  to  sacrifice 
profit  for  two  years  in  order  to  have  the  farmers 
come  to  the  town  and  get  acquainted,  to  see  what 
the  merchants,  bankers  and  real  estate  dealers  had 
to  offer.  In  making  this  offer  the  people  of  Calias 
had  the  advantage  over  Megory,  in  that  it  derived 
profits  from  other  sources,  chiefly  from  great  numbers 
of  transients  who  were  beginning  to  fill  the  hotels, 
restaurants,  saloons,  and  boarding  houses  of  the 
town.  Being  the  end  of  the  road  and  the  place  where 
practically  every  settler  coming  to  Tipp  County 
must  stay  at  least  one  night,  it  stood  to  reason  they 
could  make  such  an  inducement  and  stick  to  it. 

However,  this  was  countered  immediately  by 
Megoryites  who  promptly  organized  a  commercial 
club  and  began  the  same  kind  of  bid  for  trade. 
Thus  the  small  ranchmen  of  the  valley  found  them 
selves  an  object  of  much  importance  and  began  to 
awaken  a  little. 

Now  the  land  of  the  reservation  had  taken  on  a 
boom  such  as  had  never  been  realized,  or  dreamed 
of.  Land  in  the  states  of  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Illinois, 
and  Nebraska  had  doubled  in  valuation  in  the  pre 
vious  ten  years,  and  was  still  on  the  increase  in  value. 
Crops  had  been  good  and  money  was  plentiful; 
with  a  number  of  years  of  unbroken  prosperity,  the 
farmers  had  paid  off  mortgages  and  had  a  good 
surplus  in  the  bank.  Their  sons  and  daughters 
were  looking  for  newer  fields.  Retired  farmers 
with  their  land  to  rent  now,  instead  of  the  customary 
one-third  delivered,  demanded  and  received  from  two- 


136  The    Conquest 

fifths  to  one-half,  or  cash,  from  three  to  five  and  six 
dollars  per  acre.  And  with  the  prices  in  these  states 
ranging  from  ninety  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
per  acre,  which  meant  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  to  buy  a  quarter  section,  which 
the  renters  felt  was  too  high  to  ever  be  paid  for  by 
farming  it.  Therefore,  western  lands  held  an  at 
traction,  where  with  a  few  thousand  dollars,  some 
stock,  and  machinery  a  man  could  establish  a  good 
home.  As  this  land  in  southern  South  Dakota  is 
in  the  Corn  Belt,  the  erstwhile  investor  and  home- 
seeker  found  a  haven. 

There  is  always  more  or  less  gossip  as  regards  in 
sufficient  moisture  in  a  new  country.  The  only 
thing  to  kill  this  bogy  is  to  have  plenty  of  rain,  and 
plenty  of  rain  had  fallen  on  the  Little  Crow,  too  much 
at  times.  Large  crops  of  everything  had  been 
harvested,  but  if  the  first  three  years  had  been  wet, 
this  fourth  was  one  of  almost  continual  rainfall. 

In  the  eastern  states  the  corn  crop  had  been  badly 
drowned  out  on  the  low  lands,  and  rust  had  cut  the 
yield  of  small  grain  considerably,  while  on  the  rolling 
land  of  the  Little  Crow  the  season  was  just  right  and 
everything  grew  so  rank,  thick  and  green  that  it 
gave  the  country,  a  raw  prairie  until  less  than  four 
years  before,  the  appearance  of  an  old  settled  coun 
try.  It  looked  good  to  the  buyers  and  they  bought. 
Farms  were  sold  as  soon  as  they  were  listed.  The 
price  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  had  been  from 
twenty-five  to  forty  dollars  per  acre,  some  places 
more,  but  after  the  first  six  months  of  the  year  it 
began  to  climb  to  forty-five  and  then  to  fifty  dol 
lars  per  acre.  Those  who  owned  Little  Crow  farms 


The    Conquest  137 

became  objects  of  much  importance.  If  they  de 
sired  to  sell  they  had  only  to  let  it  be  known,  and  a 
buyer  was  soon  on  hand. 

The  atmosphere  seemed  charged  with  drunken 
enthusiasm.  Everybody  had  it.  There  was  noth 
ing  to  fear.  Little  Crow  land  was  the  best  property 
to  be  had,  better,  they  would  declare,  than  govern 
ment  bonds,  for  its  value  was  increasing  in  leaps  and 
bounds.  Choice  farms  close  to  town,  if  bought  at 
fifty  dollars  per  acre,  could  be  sold  at  a  good  profit 
in  a  short  time. 

This  was  done, .  and  good  old  eastern  capital 
continued  to  be  paid  for  the  land. 

The  spirit  of  unrest  that  seem  to  pervade  the  at 
mosphere  of  the  community  was  not  altogether  the 
desire  to  have  and  to  hold,  but  more,  to  buy  and  to 
sell.  Homesteads  were  sold  in  Megory  county  and 
the  proceeds  were  immediately  reinvested  in  Tipp, 
where  considerable  dead  Indian  land  could  be  pur 
chased  at  half  the  price. 

At  about  that  time  the  auto  fever  began  to  infect 
the  restless  and  over-prosperous  settlers,  and  busi 
ness  men  alike.  That  was  the  day  of  the  many 
two-cylinder  cars.  They  made  a  dreadful  noise  but 
they  moved  and  moved  faster  than  horses.  They 
sailed  over  the  country,  the  exhaust  of  the  engine 
making  a  cracking  noise.  The  motion,  added  to 
the  speed,  seemed  to  thrill  and  enthuse  the  investor 
until  he  bought  whether  he  cared  to  or  not. 

In  previous  years,  when  capital  was  not  so  plenti 
ful,  and  when  land  was  much  cheaper  and  slower  to 
sell,  the  agent  drove  the  buyer  over  the  land  from 
corner  to  corner,  cross-wise  and  angling,  and  the 


138  The    Conquest 

buyer  would  get  out  here  and  there  and  with  a  spade 
dig  into  the  ground,  and  be  convinced  as  to  the 
quality  of  the  soil.  He  then  pondered  the  matter 
over  for  days,  weeks,  and  sometimes  months. 
Then  maybe  he  would  go  back  and  bring  "the 
woman."  The  land  dealers  seriously  object  to 
buyers  bringing  "the  woman"  along,  especially  if 
the  farm  he  has  to  sell  has  any  serious  drawbacks, 
such,  for  instance,  as  a  lack  of  water.  There  were 
numerous  farms  on  the  high  lands  of  the  Little  Crow 
where  water  could  not  be  found,  but  they  were  in 
variably  perfect  in  every  other  respect.  The  per 
fection  in  the  laying  of  the  land  and  quality  of  the 
soil  was  severely  offset  by  the  inability  to  get  water. 
While  on  the  rougher  and  less  desirable  farms  water 
can  be  easily  obtained  in  the  draws  and  the  hills. 
But  the  high  lands  were  the  more  attractive  and 
were  sold  at  higher  prices  and  much  quicker,  regard 
less  of  the  obvious  defects. 

Now  if  "the  woman"  was  brought  to  look  it  over 
one  of  the  first  inquires  she  made  would  be,  "Now 
is  there  plenty  of  water?"  furthermore  she  was  liable 
to  steal  a  march  on  the  dealer  by  having  her  husband 
hire  a  livery  team,  and  with  the  eastern  farmer  and 
his  wife  drive  out  to  the  place  and  look  the  farm  over 
without  the  agent  to  steer  them  clear  of  the  bad 
places.  They  not  only  looked  it  over,  but  make 
inquiries  of  the  neighbors  as  to  its  merits.  Now 
country  people  have  the  unpardonable  habit  of 
gossip,  and  have  complicated  many  deals  of  the  real- 
estate  men  by  this  weakness,  even  caused  many  to 
fall  through,  until,  the  land  sharks  are  usually 
careful  to  prevent  a  buyer  from  having  a  conver 
sation  with  "Si." 


The    Conquest  139 

In  my  case,  however,  this  was  quite  different. 
I  was  known  as  "a  booster",  and  since  my  land  was 
located  between  the  Monca  and  Megory— this  was 
considered  the  cream  of  the  county  as  to  location 
soil,  and  other  advantages — instead  of  being  nervous 
over  meeting  me,  the  dealers  would  drive  into  the 
yard  or  into  the  fields,and  as  I  liked  to  talk,  introduce 
the  prospective  buyers  to  me  and  we  would  engage 
in  a  long  conversation  at  times.  I  might  add  that 
exaggerated  tales  were  current,  which  related  how 
I  had  run  as  P—  — n  porter,  saved  my  money, 
come  to  the  Little  Crow,  bought  a  half  section, 
and  was  getting  rich.  The  most  of  the  buyers  from 
Illinois,  Iowa,  Minnesota  and  Nebraska  were  un 
used  to  seeing  colored  farmers,  and  my  presence 
all  alone  on  the  former  reserve  added  to  their  in 
terest.  In  my  favor  was  the  fact  that  my  service 

in  the  employ  of  the  P n  Company  had  taken 

me  through  nearly  every  county  in  the  central 
states  and  therefore,  always  given  to  observation, 
I  could  talk  with  them  concerning  the  counties  they 
had  come  from. 

Land  prices  continued  to  soar.  Higher  and  higher 
they  went  and  to  boost  them  still  higher,  as  well 
as  to  substantiate  the  values,  the  bogy  concerning 
insufficient  moisture  was  drowned  in  the  excessive 
rainfall.  From  April  until  August  it  poured,  and  the 
effect  on  the  growing  crops  in  the  east  became 
greater  still  in  the  way  of  drowned  out  corn-fields 
and  over-rank  stems  of  small  grain  that  grew  to  ab 
normal  heights  and  with  the  least  winds  lodged  and 
then  fell  to  the  ground.  The  crops  on  the  reserva 
tion  could  not  have  been  better  and  prices  were  high. 


140  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXII 
THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROCLAMATION 

INCIDENT  with  the  expectation  came 
the  president's  proclamation  throwing 
four  thousand  claims  in  Tipp  county 
open  to  settlement  under  the  lottery 
system  at  six  dollars  per  acre.  Among  the  towns 
designated  in  the  proclamation  where  the  people 
could  make  application  for  a  claim,  Megory  and 
Calias  were  nearest  to  the  land.  These  were  the 
places  where  the  largest  crowds  were  expected. 
Therefore,  the  citizens  of  these  two  vigorous  munic 
ipalities  began  extensive  preparations  to  "entertain 
the  crowds."  Megory,  being  more  on  the  country 
order,  made  more  homelike  preparations.  Among 
the  many  "conveniences"  prepared  were  a  ladies' 
rest  room  and  information  bureau,  which  were  lo 
cated  in  a  large  barn  previously  used  for  storing 
hay. 

Calias,  under  the  criticism  that  as  soon  as  the 
road  extended  farther  west  it  would  be  as  dead  as 
Oristown — now  all  but  forgotten — prepared  to 
"get  theirs"  while  the  crowds  were  in  town.  And 
they  did,  but  that  is  ahead  of  the  story. 

The  time  for  the  opening  approached.  People 
seemingly  from  every  part  of  the  universe,  and  from 
every  vocation  in  life,  drifted  into  the  towns. 
Among  these  were  included  the  investors,  who  stated 
that  in  the  event  of  a  failure  to  draw  they  would 
buy  deeded  land.  Next  in  order  were  the  gamblers, 
from  the  "tin  horn"  and  "piker"  class  to  the  "fat" 


The    Conquest  141 

professionals.  Although  every  precaution  was  taken 
to  keep  out  the  characters  of  the  city's  underworld, 
who  had  characterized  former  openings,  both  towns 
were  fully  represented  with  a  large  share  of  pick 
pockets,  con-men,  lewd  women  and  their  consorts. 
The  many  vacant  lots  on  Main  street  of  both  the 
towns  were  decorated  with  the  typical  scene  at 
land  openings.  There  were  little  tents  with  no 
taries  assisted  by  many  beautiful  girls  to  "prepare 
your  application/'  There  were  many  hotels  with 
three  and  four  beds  to  a  room,  as  well  as  "rooms 
to  let"  over  all  the  places  of  business  containing 
two  stories  or  more.  There  were  tents  with 
five  hundred  cots,  and  "lest  we  forget",  there 
were  the  numerous  "drinking  fountains,"  with  bars 
the  length  of  the  building,  behind  which  were  scores 
of  bartenders  to  serve  the  "how  dry  I  am",  on  one 
side.  On  the  other,  in  tents,  back  rooms  and  over 
head  could  be  heard  the  b-r-r-r-r  of  the  little  ivory 
marble  as  it  spun  a  circuit  over  the  roulette  wheel, 
and  the  luck  cages,  where  the  idle  sports  turned  them 
over  for  their  own  amusement,  to  pass  away  the  time. 
The  faro-bank  and  numerous  wheels  of  fortune  also 
had  a  place.  From  the  rear  came  the  strains  of 
ragtime  music.  These  were  some  of  the  many  at 
tractions  that  met  the  trains  carrying  the  first  ar 
rivals  on  the  night  of  October  fifth. 


142  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

WHERE  THE  NEGRO  FAILS 

ING  before  I  came  west  and  during  the 
years  I  had  spent  on  the  homestead,  my 
closest  companion  was  the  magazines. 
From  the  time  Thomas  W.  Lawson's 
"Frenzied  Finance"  had  run  as  a  serial  article  in  a 
leading  periodical,  to  IdaM.  Tarbell's  ''The  History 
of  the  Standard  Oil  Company, "  I  fairly  devoured 
special  articles  on  subjects  of  timely  interest.  I 
enjoyed  reading  anything  that  would  give  me  a 
more  complete  knowledge  of  what  made  up  this 
great  country  in  which  we  live  and  which  all  Ameri 
cans  are  given  to  boasting  of  as  the  "  greatest  coun 
try  in  the  world." 

And  this  brings  to  my  mind  certain  conditions 
which  exist  concerning  the  ten  odd  millions  of  the 
black  race  in  America;  and  more,  this,  in  itself  had 
a  tendency  to  open  wider  the  gap  between  a  cer 
tain  class  of  the  race  and  myself. 

There  are  two  very  distinct  types  or  classes, 
among  the  American  negroes.  I  am  inclined  to  feel 
that  this  is  more  prominent  than  most  people  are 
aware.  I  have  met  and  known  those  who  are  quick 
to  think,  practical,  conservative  as  well  as  progres 
sive,  while  there  are  those  who  are  narrow  in  their 
sympathies  and  short-sighted  in  their  views.  Now 
as  a  matter  of  argument,  my  experience  has  taught 
me  there  are  more  of  this  class  than  most  colored 
people  have  any  idea. 
The  worst  feature  of  this  situation,  however,  is 


TheConquest  143 

that  a  large  number  of  the  latter  class  have  com 
mingled  with  the  former  in  such  a  way  as  to  easily 
assume  all  the  worthy  proportions.  They  are  a 
sort  of  dog  in  the  manger,  and  are  not  in  accord 
with  any  principle  that  is  practical  and  essential 
to  the  elimination  of  friction  and  strife  between  the 
races. 

Among  the  many  faults  of  this  class  is,  that  they 
do  not  realize  what  it  takes  to  succeed,  nor  do  they 
care,  but  spend  their  efforts  loudly  claiming  credit 
for  the  success  of  those  who  are  honest  in  their  con 
victions  and  try  to  prove  themselves  indispen 
sable  citizens.  Nothing  is  more  obvious  and  proves 
this  more  conclusively  than  to  take  notice,  as  I 
have,  of  their  own  selection  of  reading  matter. 

Now,  for  instance,  a  few  years  ago  a  series  of  ar 
ticles  under  the  title  of  "Following  the  Color  Line" 
appeared  in  a  certain  periodical,  the  work  of  a  very 
well  known  writer  whose  specialty  is  writing  on 
social  conditions,  strikes,  etc. 

In  justice  to  all  concerned,  the  writer  described 
the  conditions  which  his  articles  covered,  just  as 
he  found  them  and  in  this,  in  my  opinion,  he  differed 
largely  from  many  of  the  southern  authors  whose 
articles  are  still  inclined  to  treat  the  Ethiopians  as 
a  whole,  as  the  old  "time  worn"  aunt  and  uncle. 
Not  intending  to  digress,  I  want  to  put  down  here, 
that  negroes  as  a  whole  are  changing  to  some  extent, 
the  same  as  the  whites  and  no  liberty-loving 
colored  man  appreciates  being  regarded  as  "aunt/ 
or  "uncle"  even  though  some  of  these  people  were  as 
honorable  as  could  be.  This  is  a  modern  age. 

Now  getting  back  to  the  discussion  that  I  seem  to 


144  The    CVn  quest 

have|for  the  moment  forgotten  and  as  regards  the 
article,  while  worthy  in  every  respect,  it  was  no  dif 
ferent  in  its  way  from  any  number  of  other  articles 
published  at  that  time,  as  well  as  now,  that  deal  on 
great  and  complex  questions  of  the  day.  Yet,  this 
article  caused  thousands  of  colored  people,  who  never 
before  bought  a  magazine  or  book,  to  subscribe  for 
that  magazine.  It  was  later  published  in  book  form 
and  is  conspicuous  in  the  libraries  of  many  thousands 
of  colored  families. 

What  I  have  intended  to  put  down  in  this  lengthy 
discourse  regarding  my  race  is,  if  they  see  or  hear 
of  an  article  concerning  the  race,  they  will  buy  that 
magazine,  to  read  the  article  spoken  of  and  nothing 
more. 

Since  living  in  the  state,  as  a  recreation  I  was  in 
the  habit  of  taking  trips  to  Chicago  once  or  twice 
a  year,  and  as  might  be  expected  I  would  talk  of 
South  Dakota.  In  the  course  of  a  conversation  I 
have  related  a  story  of  some  one's  success  there  and 
would  be  listened  to  with  unusual  attention.  As  I 
had  found  in  them  many  who  were  poor  listeners, 
at  these  times  when  I  found  myself  the  object  of  so 
much  undivided  attention  I  would  warm  up  to  the 
subject  until  it  had  evolved  into  a  sort  of  lecture, 
and  remarks  of,  "my,"  "you  don't  say  so,"  and  "just 
think  of  it"  would  interrupt  me — "and  a  colored 
man."  No,  I  would  correct,  the  least  bit  hesitant, 
a  white  man.  Then,  just  like  the  sun  disappearing 
behind  a  cloud,  all  interest  would  vanish,  further 
more,  I  have  on  occasions  of  this  kind  had  attention 
of  a  few  minutes  before  turned  to  remarks  of  criticism 
for  taking  up  the  time  relating  the  success  of  a  white 


.1 


The    Conquest  145 

man.  The  idea  is  prevalent  among  this  class  that 
all  white  people  should  be  rich,  and  regardless  of  how 
ideal  the  success  has  been,  I  learned  that  no  white 
person  could  be  accepted  as  an  example  for  this 
class  to  follow. 

By  reading  nothing  but  discussions  concerning 
the  race,  by  all  but  refusing  to  accept  the  success  of 
the  white  race  as  an  example  and  by  welcoming  any 
racial  disturbance  as  a  conclusion  that  the  entire 
white  race  is  bent  in  one  great  effort  to  hold  him — 
the  negro,  down,  he  can  not  very  well  feel  the  thrill 
of  modern  progress  and  is  ignorant  as  to  public 
opinion.  Therefore  he  is  unable  to  cope  with  the 
trend  of  conditions  and  has  become  so  condensed 
in  the  idea  that  he  has  no  opportunity,  that  he  is 
disinteresting  to  the  public.  One  of  the  greatest 
tasks  of  my  life  has  been  to  convince  a  certain  class 
of  my  racial  acquaintances  that  a  colored  man  can 
be  anything. 

Now  on  the  entire  Little  Crow  reservation,  less 
than  eight  hundred  miles  from  Chicago,  I  was  the  only 
colored  man  engaged  in  agriculture,  and  moreover, 
from  Megory  to  Omaha,  a  distance  of  three  hundred 
miles.  There  was  only  one  other  negro  family  en 
gaged  in  the  same  industry. 

Having  lived  in  the  cities,  I  therefore,  was  not 
a  greenhorn,  as  some  of  them  would  try  to  have 
me  feel,  when  they  referred  to  their  clubs  and  social 
affairs. 

Among  the  many  facts  that  confronted  me  as  I 
meditated  the  situation,  one  dated  back  to  the  time 
I  had  run  on  the  road.  The  trains  I  ran  on  carried 
thousands  monthly  into  the  interior  of  the  north- 

10 


146  The    Conquest 

west.  Among  these  were  a  great  number  of 
emigrants  fresh  from  the  old  countries,  but  there 
was  seldom  a  colored  person  among  them,  and  those 
few  that  I  had  seen,  with  few  exceptions,  went  on 
through  to  the  Pacific  coast  cities  and  engaged  in 
the  same  occupation  they  had  followed  in  the  east. 

During  these  trips  I  learned  the  greatest  of  all  the 
failings  were  not  only  among  the  ignorant  class, 
but  among  the  educated  as  well.  Although  more 
more  agreeable  to  talk  to,  they  lacked  that  great 
and  mighty  principle  which  characterizes  Americans, 
called  "the  initiative."  Colored  people  are  pos 
sible  in  every  way  that  is  akin  to  becoming  good 
citizens,  which  has  been  thoroughly  proven  and  is 
an  existing  fact.  Yet  they  seem  to  lack  the  "guts" 
to  get  into  the  northwest  and  "do  things."  In 
seven  or  eight  of  the  great  agricultural  states  there 
were  not  enough  colored  farmers  to  fill  a  township 
of  thirty-six  sections. 

Another  predominating  inconsistency  is  that 
there  is  that  "love  of  luxury."  They  want  street 
cars,  cement  walks,  and  electric  lights  to  greet  them 
when  they  arrive.  I  well  remember  it  was  something 
near  two  years  before  I  saw  a  colored  man  on  the 
reservation,  until  the  road  had  been  extended.  They 
had  never  come  west  of  Oristown,  but  as  the  time  for 
the  opening  arrived,  the  kitchens  and  hotel  dining- 
rooms  of  Megory  and  Calias  were  filled  with  waiters 
and  cooks. 

During  the  preparation  for  the  opening  the  com 
mercial  club  of  Megory  had  lengthy  circulars  printed, 
with  photographs  of  the  surrounding  country, 
farms,  homes,  and  the  like,  to  accompany.  These 


TheConquest  147 

circulars  described  briefly  the  progress  the  country 
had  made  in  the  four  years  it  had  been  opened  to 
settlement,  and  the  opportunities  waiting.  By 
giving  the  name  and  address  the  club  would  send 
these  to  any  address  or  person,  with  the  statement, 
"by  the  request"  of  whoever  gave  the  name. 

I  gave  the  name  of  not  less  than  one  hundred 
persons,  and  sent  them  personally  to  many  as  well. 
I  wrote  articles  and  sent  them  to  different  news 
papers  edited  by  colored  people,  in  the  east  and  other 
places.  I  was  successful  in  getting  one  colored  per 
son  to  come  and  register — my  oldest  brother. 


148  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXIV 
"AND  THE  CROWDS  DID  COME."    THE  PRAIRIE  FIRE 


HE  registration  opened  at  twelve  o'clock 
Monday  morning.  Seven  trains  during 
the  night  before  had  brought  something 
like  seven  thousand  people.  Of  this 
number  about  two  thousand  got  off  at  Megory,  and 
the  remainder  went  on  through  to  Calias.  The 
big  opening  was  on,  and  the  bid  for  patronage  made 
the  relations  between  the  towns  more  bitter  than 
ever. 

After  the  first  few  days,  however,  the  crowds, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  hundred,  daily  went 
on  through  to  Calias  and  did  not  heed  the  cat  calls 
and  uncomplimentary  remarks  from  the  railway 
platform  at  Megory.  Among  these  remarks  flung 
at  the  crowded  trains  were:  "Go  on  to  Calias  and  buy 
a  drink  of  water",  "Go  on  to  Calias  and  pay  a 
dime  for  the  water  to  wash  your  face" — water  was 
one  of  Calias's  scarcities,  as  will  be  seen  later. 
However,  this  failed  to  detract  the  crowd. 

The  C.  &  R.  W.  put  on  fifteen  regular  trains  daily, 
and  the  little  single  track,  unballasted  and  squirmy, 
was  very  unsafe  to  ride  over  and  the  crowded  trains 
had  to  run  very  slowly  on  this  account.  Because 
of  the  fact  that  it  was  difficult  to  find  adequate  side 
tracking,  it  took  two  full  days  to  make  the  trip  from 
Omaha  to  Calias  and  return. 

All  the  day  and  night  the  "toot,  toot"  of  the 
locomotives  could  be  heard  and  the  sound  seemed  to 
make  the  country  seem  very  old  indeed.  Megory's 


The    Conquest  149 

brass  band — organized  for  the  purpose — undaunted, 
continued  to  play  frantically  at  the  depot  to  try 
to  induce  the  crowded  trains  to  unload  a  greater 
share,  but  to  no  avail,  although  the  cars  were  stuffed 
like  sandwiches. 

Those  times  in  Calias  were  long  to  be  remembered. 
As  the  trains  disgorged  the  thousands  daily  it  seemed 
impossible  that  the  little  city  could  care  for 
such  crowds.  The  sidewalks  were  crowded  from 
morn  till  night.  The  registration  booths  and  the 
saloons  never  closed  and  more  automobiles  than  I 
had  ever  seen  in  a  country  town  up  to  that  time, 
roared,  and  with  their  clattering  noise,  took  the 
people  hurriedly  across  the  reservation  to  the  west. 

Along  toward  the  close  of  the  opening  a  prairie 
fire  driven  by  a  strong  west  wind  raced  across  Tipp 
county  in  a  straight  line  for  Calias.  Although  fire 
guards  sixty  feet  wide  had  been  burned  along  the 
west  side  of  the  town,  it  soon  became  apparent  that 
the  fire  would  leap  them  and  enter  the  town,  unless 
some  unusual  effort  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  was 
made  to  stop  it. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  and  as  seems  always 
the  case,  a  fire  will  cause  the  wind  to  rise,  and  it 
rose  until  the  blaze  shut  out  the  western  horizon. 
It  seemed  the  entire  world  to  the  west  was  afire. 

Ten  thousand  people,  lost  in  sight-seeing,  gambling 
and  revelry,  all  of  a  sudden  became  aware  of  the 
approaching  danger,  and  began  a  rush  for  safety. 
To  the  north,  south,  and  east  of  the  town  the  lands 
were  under  cultivation,  therefore,  a  safe  place  from 
the  fire  that  now  threatened  the  town.  All  business 
was  suspended,  registration  ceased,  and  the  huge 


150  The    Conquest 

cans  containing  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
applications  for  lands,  were  loaded  on  drays  and  taken 
into  the  country  and  deposited  in  the  center  of  a 
large  plowed  field,  for  safety.  The  gamblers  put 
their  gains  into  sacks  and  joined  the  surging  masses, 
and  with  grips  got  from  the  numerous  check  rooms, 
all  the  people  fled  like  stampeding  cattle  to  a  position 
to  the  north  of  town  which  was  protected  by  a  corn 
field  on  the  west. 

Ernest  Nicholson,  leading  the  business  men  and 
property  owners,  bravely  fought  the  oncoming 
disaster.  The  chemical  engine  and  water  hose 
were  rushed  forward  but  were  as  pins  under  the 
drivers  of  a  locomotive.  The  water  from  the  hose 
ran  weakly  for  a  few  minutes  and  then  with  a  blow 
ing  as  of  an  empty  faucet,  petered  out  from  lack  of 
water.  The  strong  wind  blew  the  chemical  into  the 
air  and  it  proved  as  useless.  The  fire  entered  the 
city.  One  house,  a  magnificent  residence,  was  soon 
enveloped  in  flames,  which  spread  to  another,  and 
still  to  another. 

The  thousands  of  people  huddled  on  a  bare  spot, 
but  safe,  watched  the  minature  city  of  one  year  and 
the  gate-way  to  the  homesteads  of  the  next  county, 
disappear  in  flames. 

Megoryites,  seeing  the  danger  threatening  her 
hated  rival  five  miles  away,  called  for  volunteers 
who  readily  responded  and  formed  bucket  brigades, 
loaded  barrels  into  wagons,  filled  them  with  water 
and  burned  the  roads  in  the  hurry-up  call  to  the  ap 
parently  doomed  city. 

I  could  see  the  fire  from  where  I  was  harvesting 
flax  ten  miles  away,  and  the  cloud  of  smoke,  with  the 


TheConquest  151 

little  city  lying  silent  before,  it  reminded  me  of  a 
picture  of  Pompeii  before  Vesuvius.  It  looked  as 
if  Calias  were  lost.  Then,  like  a  miracle,  the  wind 
quieted  down,  changed,  and  in  less  than  twenty 
minutes  was  blowing  a  gale  from  the  east,  starting 
the  fire  back  over  the  ground  over  which  it  had 
burned.  There  it  sputtered,  flickered,  and  with 
a  few  sparks  went  out,  just  as  L.  A.  Bell  pulled  onto 
the  scene  with  lathered  and  bloody  eyed  mules  draw 
ing  a  tank  of  Megory's  water,  and  was  told  by  the 
Nicholson  Brothers — who  were  said  to  resemble 
Mississippi  steamboat  roustabouts  on  a  hot  day — 
that  Calias  didn't  need  their  water. 

Following  the  day  of  the  high  wind  which  brought 
the  prairie  fire  that  so  badly  frightened  the  people 
of  the  town,  the  change  of  the  wind  to  the  east 
brought  rain,  and  about  two  hundred  auto 
mobiles  that  had  been  carrying  people  over  Tipp 
county  into  the  town.  I  remember  the  crowds  but 
have  no  idea  now  many  people  there  were,  but  that 
it  looked  more  like  the  crowds  on  Broadway  or 
State  street  on  a  busy  day  than  Main  Street  in  a 
burg  of  the  prairie.  This  was  the  afternoon  of  the 
drawing  and  a  woman  drew  number  one,  while  here 
and  there  in  the  crowd  that  filled  the  street  before 
the  registration,  exclamations  of  surprise  and  delight 
went  up  from  different  fortunates  hearing  their  names 
called,  drawing  a  lucky  number.  I  felt  rather  be 
wildered  by  so  much  excitement  and  metropolitan- 
ism  where  hardly  two  years  before  I  had  hauled  one 
of  the  first  loads  of  lumber  on  the  ground  to  start 
the  town.  I  could  not  help  but  feel  that  the  world 
moved  swiftly,  and  that  I  was  living,  not  in  a  wilder- 


152  The    Conquest 

ness — as  stated  in  some  of  the  letters  I  had  received 
from  colored  friends  in  reply  to  my  letter  that  in 
formed  them  of  the  opening — but  in  the  midst  of 
advancement  and  action. 

When  the  drawing  was  over  and  the  crowds  had 
gone,  it  was  found  that  the  greatest  crowds  had 
registered — not  at  Calias — but  at  a  town  just  south, 
in  Nebraksa,  which  received  forty-five  thousand 
while  Calias  came  second  with  forty-three  thousand 
and  Megory  only  received  seven  thousand,  something 
like  one  hundred  fifteen  thousand  in  all  having  ap- 
applied. 

The  hotels  in  Calias  had  charged  one  dollar  the 
person  and  some  of  the  large  ones  had  made  small 
fortunes,  while  the  saloons  were  said  to  have  aver 
aged  over  one  thousand  dollars  a  day. 

After  the  opening,  land  sold  like  hot  hamburger 
sandwiches  had  a  few  weeks  before. 


The    Conquest  153 

CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  SCOTCH  GIRL 

had  been  just  four  years  since  I  bought 
the  relinquishment  and  seven  since  leav 
ing  southern  Illinois.  I  had  been  very 
successful  in  farming  although  I  had 
made  some  very  poor  deals  in  the  beginning,  and 
when  my  crops  were  sold  that  season  I  found  I  had 
made  three  thousand,  five  hundred  dollars.  Futher- 
more,  I  had  in  the  beginning  sought  to  secure  the 
•best  land  in  the  best  location  and  had  succeeded. 
I  had  put  two  hundred  eighty  acres  under  cultiva 
tion,  with  eight  head  of  horses — I  had  done  a  little 
better  in  my  later  horse  deals — and  had  machinery, 
seed  and  feed  sufficient  to  farm  it.  My  efforts  in 
the  seven  years  had  resulted  in  the  ownership  of 
land  and  stock  to  the  value  of  twenty  thousand  dol 
lars  and  was  only  two  thousand  dollars  in  debt  and 
still  under  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

During  the  years  I  had  spent  on  the  Little  Crow 
I  had  "kept  batch"  all  the  while  until  that  summer. 
A  Scotch  family  had  moved  from  Indiana  that 
spring  consisting  of  the  father,  a  widower,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters.  One  of  the  boys  worked  for 
me  and  as  it  was  much  handier,  I  boarded  with  them. 

The  older  of  the  two  girls  was  a  beautiful  blonde 
maiden  of  twenty  summers,  who  attended  to  the 
household  duties,  and  considering  the  small  op 
portunities  she  had  to  secure  an  education,  was  an 
unusually  intelligent  girl.  She  had  composed  some 
verses  and  songs  but  not  knowing  where  to  send 


154  The    Conquest 

them,  had  never  submitted  them  to  a  publisher. 
I  secured  the  name  of  a  company  that  accepted 
some  of  her  writings  and  paid  her  fifty  dollars  for 
them.  She  was  so  anxious  to  improve  her  mind 
that  I  took  an  interest  in  her  and  as  I  received  much 
literature  in  the  way  of  newspapers  and  magazines 
and  read  lots  of  copy-right  books,  I  gave  them  to 
her.  She  seemed  delighted  and  appreciated  thegifts. 

Before  long,  however,  and  without  any  intention 
of  being  other  than  kind,  I  found  myself  being  drawn 
to  her  in  a  way  that  threatened  to  become  serious. 
While  custom  frowns  on  even  the  discussion  of  the 
amalgamation  of  races,  it  is  only  human  to  be  kind, 
and  it  was  only  my  intention  to  encourage  the  desire 
to  improve,  which  I  could  see  in  her,  but  I  found 
myself  on  the  verge  of  falling  in  love  with  her.  To 
make  matters  more  awkward,  that  love  was  being 
returned  by  the  object  of  my  kindness.  She,  how 
ever,  like  myself,  had  no  thought  of  being  other 
than  kind  and  grateful.  It  placed  me  as  well  as  her 
in  an  awkward  position —  for  before  we  realized  it, 
we  had  learned  to  understand  each  other  to  such 
an  extent,  that  it  became  visible  in  every  look  and 
action. 

It  reached  a  stage  of  embarrassment  one  day  when 
we  were  reading  a  volume  of  Shakespeare.  She 
was  sitting  at  the  table  and  I  was  standing  over  her. 
The  volume  was  "  Othello "  and  when  we  came  to 
the  climax  where  Othello  has  murdered  his  wife, 
driven  to  it  by  the  evil  machinations  of  lago,  as 
if  by  instinct  she  looked  up  and  caught  my  eyes  and 
when  I  came  to  myself  I  had  kissed  her  twice  on  the 
lips  she  held  up. 


TheConquest  155 

After  that,  being  near  her  caused  me  to  feel 
awkwardly  uncomfortable.  We  could  not  even 
look  into  each  other's  eyes,  without  showing  the 
feeling  that  existed  in  the  heart. 

Now  during  the  time  I  had  lived  among  the  white 
people,  I  had  kept  my  place  as  regards  custom,  and 
had  been  treated  with  every  courtesy  and  respect; 
had  been  referred  to  in  the  local  papers  in  the  most 
complimentary  terms,  and  was  regarded  as  one  of 
the  Little  Crow's  best  citizens. 

But  when  the  reality  of  the  situation  dawned 
upon  me,  I  became  in  a  way  frightened,  for  I  did 
not  by  any  means  want  to  fall  in  love  with  a  white 
girl.  I  had  always  disapproved  of  intermarriage, 
considering  it  as  being  above  all  things,  the  very 
thing  that  a  colored  man  could  not  even  think  of. 
That  we  would  become  desperately  in  love,  however, 

seemed  inevitable. 

******** 

Lived  a  man — the  history  of  the  American  Negro 
shows — who  had  been  the  foremost  member  of 
his  race.  He  had  acquitted  himself  of  many  hon 
orable  deeds  for  more  than  a  score  of  years,  in  the 
interest  of  his  race.  He  had  filled  a  federal  office 
but  at  the  zenith  of  his  career  had  brought  dis 
appointment  to  his  race  and  criticism  from  the 
white  people  who  had  honored  him,  by  marrying 
a  white  woman,  a  stenographer  in  his  office. 

They  were  no  doubt  in  love  with  each  other,  which 
in  all  likelihood  overcame  the  fear  of  social  ostracism, 
they  must  have  known  would  follow  the  marriage. 
I  speak  of  love  and  presume  that  she  loved  him  for 
in  my  opinion  a  white  woman,  intelligent  and 


156  The    Conquest 

respectable  and  knowing  what  it  means,  who  would 
marry  a  colored  man,  must  love  him  and  love  him 
dearly.  To  make  that  love  stronger  is  the  feeling 
that  haunts  the  mind;  the  knowledge  that  custom, 
tradition,  and  the  dignity  of  both  races  are  against 
it.  Like  anything  forbidden,  however,  it  arouses 
the  spirit  of  opposition,  causing  the  mind  to  battle 
with  what  is  felt  to  be  oppression.  The  sole  claim 
is  the  right  to  love. 

These  thoughts  fell  upon  me  like  a  clap  of  thunder 
and  frightened  me  the  more.  It  was  then  too,  that 
I  realized  how  pleasant  the  summer  just  passed 
had  been,  and  that  I  had  not  been  in  the  least  lone 
some,  but  perfectly  contented,  aye,  happy.  And 
that  was  the  reason. 

During  the  summer  when  I  had  read  a  good 
story  or  had  on  mind  to  discuss  my  hopes,  she  had 
listened  attentively  and  I  had  found  companionship. 
If  I  was  melancholy,  I  had  been  cheered  in  the  same 
demure  manner.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  I  had  been  un 
aware  of  the  affection  growing  silently;  drawing  two 
lonesome  hearts  together.  With  the  reality  of 
it  upon  us,  we  were  unable  to  extricate  ourselves 
from  our  own  weak  predicament.  We  tried  avoid 
ing  each  other;  tried  everything  to  crush  the  weak 
ness.  God  has  thus  endowed.  We  found  it  hard. 

I  have  felt,  if  a  person  could  only  order  his  mind 
as  he  does  his  limbs  and  have  it  respond  or  submit 
to  the  will,  how  much  easier  life  would  be.  For 
it  is  that  relentless  thinking  all  the  time  until  one's 
mind  becomes  a  slave  to  its  own  imaginations,  that 
brings  eternal  misery,  where  happiness  might  be 
had. 


The    Conquest  157 

To  love  is  life — love  lives  to  seek  reply — but  I 
would  contend  with  myself  as  to  whether  or  not 
it  was  right  to  fall  in  love  with  this  poor  little  white 
girl.  I  contended  with  myself  that  there  were 
good  girls  in  my  race  and  coincident  with  this  I 
quit  boarding  with  them  and  went  to  batching  again, 
to  try  to  successfully  combat  my  emotions.  I  con 
tinued  to  send  her  papers  and  books  to  read — I 
could  hardly  restrain  the  inclinations  to  be  kind. 
Then  one  day  I  went  to  the  house  to  settle  with 
her  father  for  the  boy's  work  and  found  her  alone. 
I  could  see  she  had  been  crying,  and  her  very  ex 
pression  was  one  of  unhappiness.  Well,  what  is 
a  fellow  going  to  do.  What  I  did  was  to  take 
her  into  my  arms  and  in  spite  of  all  the  custom,  loy 
alty,  or  the  dignity  of  either  Ethiopian  or  the 

Caucasian  race,  loved  her  like  a  lover. 

******** 

It  was  during  a  street  carnival  at  Megory  some 
time  before  the  Tipp  county  opening,  when  one 
afternoon  in  company  with  three  or  four  white 
men,  I  saw  a  nice  looking  colored  man  coming  along 
the  street.  It  was  very  seldom  any  colored  people 
came  to  those  parts  and  when  they  did,  it  was  with 
a  show  troupe  or  a  concert  of  some  kind.  When 
ever  any  colored  people  were  in  town,  I  had  usually 
made  myself  acquainted  and  welcomed  them — if 
it  was  acceptable,  and  it  usually  was — so  when  I 
saw  this  young  man  approaching  I  called  the  atten 
tion  of  my  companions,  saying,  "There  is  a  nice- 
looking  colored  man."  He  was  about  five  feet, 
eleven,  of  a  light  brown  complexion,  and  chestnut- 
like  hair,  neatly  trimmed.  He  wore  glasses  and 


158  The    Conquest 

was  dressed  in  a  well-fitting  suit  that  matched  his 
complexion.  He  had  the  appearance  of  being  in 
telligent  and  amiable. 

I  was  in  the  act  of  starting  to  speak,  when  one 
of  the  fellows  nudged  me  and  whispered  in  my  ear, 
that  it  was  one  of  the  Woodrings  from  a  town  a 
short  distance  away  in  Nebraska,  who  was  known 
to  be  of  mixed  blood  but  never  admitted  it. 

According  to  what  I  had  been  told,  the  father  of 
the  three  boys  was  about  half  negro  but  had  married 
a  white  woman,  and  this  one  was  the  youngest  son. 
Needless  to  say  I  did  not  speak  but  kept  clear  of 
him. 

There  is  a  difference  in  races  that  can  be  dis 
tinguished  in  the  features,  in  the  eyes,  and  even  if 
carefully  noted,  in  the  sound  of  the  voice. 

It  seemed  the  family  claimed  to  be  part  Mexican, 
which  would  account  for  the  darkness  of  their 
complexion.  But  I  had  seen  too  many  different 
races,  however,  to  mistake  a  streak  of  Ethiopian. 
Having  been  in  Mexico,  I  knew  them  to  be  al 
most  entirely  straight-haired  (being  a  cross  be 
tween  an  Indian  and  a  Spaniard).  When  I  ob 
served  this  young  man,  I  readily  distinguished  the 
negro  features;  the  brown  eyes,  the  curly  hair,  and 
the  set  of  the  nose. 

The  father  had  come  into  the  sand  hills  of  Ne 
braska  some  thirty-five  years  before,  taken  a  home 
stead,  but  from  where  he  came  from  no  one  seemed 
to  know.  It  was  there  he  married  his  white  wife, 
and  to  the  union  was  born  the  three  sons,  Frank, 
the  eldest,  Will,  and  Len,  the  youngest. 

The   father   sold   the   homestead   some   twenty 


TheConquest  159 

years  before  and  moved  to  another  county,  and  had 
run  a  hotel  since  in  the  town  of  Fencer,  where  they 
now  live. 

Unlike  his  younger  brother,  Frank,  the  eldest  son, 
could  easily  have  passed  for  a  white,  that  is,  so 
long  as  no  one  looked  for  the  streak.  But  when  the 
fellow  whose  timely  information  had  kept  me  from 
embarrassing  myself,  and  perhaps  from  insulting 
the  young  man,  a  few  minutes  later  called  out, 
" Hello,  Frank!"  to  a  tall  man,  one  look  disclosed 
to  my  scrutiny  the  negro  in  his  features.  I  was 
not  mistaken.  It  was  Frank  Woodring. 

In  view  of  the  fact,  that  in  some  chapters  of  this 
story  I  dwell  on  the  negro,  and  on  account  of  the 
insistence  of  many  of  them  who  declare  they  are 
deprived  of  opportunities  on  account  of  their  color, 
I  take  the  privilege  of  putting  down  here  a  sketch  of 
this  Frank  Woodring's  life.  And  although  these 
people  deny  a  relation  to  the  negro  race,  it  was 
well  known  by  the  public  in  that  part  of  the  coun 
try,  that  they  were  mixed,  for  it  had  been  told  to 
me  by  every  one  who  knew  them,  therefore  the 
instance  cannot  be  regarded  altogether  as  an  ex 
ception. 

Shortly  after  coming  to  Fencer,  he  went  to  work 
for  an  Iowa  man  on  a  ranch  near  by,  and  later  a 
prosperous  squaw-man,  who  owned  a  bank,  took 
him  in,  where  in  time  he  became  book-keeper  and 
all  round  handy  man,  later  assistant  cashier.  The 
ranchman  whom  Woodring  had  worked  for  previous 
to  entering  the  bank,  bought  the  squaw-man  out, 
made  Woodring  cashier,  and  sold  to  him  a  block 
of  stock  and  took  his  note  for  the  amount.  In 


160  The    Conquest 

time  Woodring  proved  a  good  banker  and  his  effi 
cient  management  of  the  institution,  which  had 
been  a  State  bank  with  a  capital  stock  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  had  been  incorporated  into 
a  National  bank  and  the  capital  increased  to  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  later  on  to  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  He  dealt  in  buying  and  selling 
land  as  well  as  feeding  cattle,  on  the  side,  and  had 
prospered  until  he  was  soon  well-to-do.  Coincident 
with  this  prosperity  he  had  been  made  president 
of  not  only  that  bank — whose  footing  was  near  a 
half-million  dollars — but  of  some  other  three  or 
four  local  banks  in  Nebraska,  also  a  Megory  county 
bank  at  Fairview — which  is  the  county  depository — 
and  a  large  bank  and  trust  company  at  the  town  of 
Megory,  with  a  capital  stock  of  sixty  thousand  dol 
lars.  Today  Frank  Woodring  is  one  of  the  wealth 
iest  men  in  northwest  Nebraska. 

The  local  ball  team  of  their  town  was  playing 
Megory  that  day,  and  a  few  hours  later  out  at  the 
ball  park,  I  was  shouting  for  the  home  team  with 
all  my  breath,  the  batter  struck  a  foul,  and  when  I 
turned  to  look  where  the  ball  went,  there,  standing 
on  the  bench  above  me,  between  two  white  girls, 
and  looking  down  at  me  with  a  look  that  betrayed 
his  mind,  was  Len  Woodring.  Our  eyes  met  for 
only  the  fraction  of  a  minute  but  I  read  his  thoughts. 
He  looked  away  quickly,  but  I  shall  not  soon  forget 
that  moment  of  racial  recognition. 

And  now  when  I  found  my  affections  in  jeopardy 
regarding  the  love  of  the  Scotch  girl,  I  thought  long 
and  seriously  over  the  matter,  and  pictured  myself 
in  the  place  of  the  Woodring  family,  successful, 


The    Conquest  161 

respected,  and  efficient  business  men,  but  still 
members]  of  the  down-trodden  race.  I  pondered  as 
to  whether  I  vould  make  the  sacrifice.  Maybe  they 
were  happy,  the  boys  had  never  known  or  associated 
with  the  race  they  denied,  and  maybe  were  not  so 
conscientious  as  myself,  although  the  look  of  Len's 
had  betrayed  what  was  on  his  mind. 

I  had  learned  that  throughout  these  Dakotas  and 
Nebraska,  that  other  lone  colored  men  who  had 
drifted  from  the  haunts  and  homes  of  the  race,  as 
I  had — maybe  discontented,  as  I  had  been — and 
had  with  time  and  natural  development,  through  the 
increase  in  the  valuation  of  their  homesteads  or 
other  lands  they  had  acquired,  grown  prosperous 
and  had  finally,  with  hardly  an  exception,  married 
into  the  white  race.  Even  the  daughter  of  the  only 
colored  farmer  between  the  Little  Crow  and  Omaha 
was  only  prevented  from  marrying  a  white  man,  at 
the  altar,  when  it  was  found  the  law  of  the  state 
forbids  it. 

I  could  diagnose  their  condition  by  my  own. 
Life  in  a  new  country  is  always  rough  in  the  begin 
ning.  In  the  past  it  had  taken  ten  and  fifteen 
years  for  a  newly  opened  country  to  develop  into 
a  state  of  cultivation  and  prosperity,  that  the  Little 
Crow  had  in  the  four  years. 

At  the  time  it  had  been  opened  to  settlement, 
the  reaction  from  the  effects  of  the  dry  years  and 
hard  times  of  93-4  and  5  had  set  in  and  at  that 
time,  with  plenty  of  available  capital,  the  early  ex 
tension  of  the  railroad,  and  other  advantages  too 
numerous  to  mention,  life  had  been  quite  different 
for  the  settlers.  Such  advantages  had  not  been 
11 


162  The    Conquest 

the  lot  of  the  homesteader  twenty  and  thirty  years 
before. 

These  people  had  no  doubt  been  honorable  and 
had  intended  to  remain  loyal  to  their  race,  but 
long,  hard  years,  lean  crops,  and  the  long,  lonesome 
days  had  changed  them.  It  is  easier  to  control 
the  thoughts  than  the  emotions.  The  craving  for 
love  and  understanding  pervades  the  very  core  of 
a  human,  and  makes  the  mind  reckless  to  even  such 
a  grave  matter  as  race  loyalty.  In  most  cases  it 
had  been  years  before  these  people  had  the  means 
and  time  to  get  away  for  a  visit  to  their  old  homes, 
while  around  them  were  the  neighbors  and  friends 
of  pioneer  days,  and  maybe,  too,  some  girl  had  come 
into  their  lives — like  this  one  had  into  mine — who 
understood  them  and  was  kind  and  sympathetic. 
What  worried  me  most,  however,  even  frightened 
me,  was,  that  after  marriage  and  when  their  children 
had  grown  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  they,  like 
the  Woodring  family,  had  a  terror  of  their  race; 
disowning  and  denying  the  blood  that  coursed 
through  their  veins;  claiming  to  be  of  some  foreign 
descent;  in  fact,  anything  to  hide  or  conceal  the 
mixture  of  Ethopian.  They  looked  on  me  with 
fear,  sometimes  contempt.  Even  the  mixed-blood 
Indians  and  negroes  seemed  to  crave  a  marriage 
with  the  whites. 

The  question  uppermost  in  my  mind  became, 
"'Would  not  I  become  like  that,  would  I  too,deny 
my  race?"  The  thought  was  a  desperate  one. 
I  did  not  feel  that  I  could  become  that  way,  but 
what  about  those  to  come  after  me,  would  they 
have  to  submit  to  the  indignities  I  had  seen  some 


The    Conquest  163 

of  these  referred  to,  do,  in  order  that  they  may  marry 
whites  and  try  to  banish  from  memory  the  relation 
of  a  race  that  is  hated,  in  many  instances,  for  no 
other  reason  than  the  coloring  matter  in  their  pig 
ment.  Would  my  life,  and  the  thought  involved 
and  occupied  my  mind  daily,  innocent  as  my  life 
now  appeared,  lead  into  such  straits  if  I  married 
the  Scotch  girl.  It  became  harder  for  me,  for  at 
that  time,  I  had  not  even  a  correspondence  with 
a  girl  of  my  race.  As  I  look  back  upon  it  the  con 
dition  was  a  complicated  affair.  I  confess  at  the 
time,  however,  that  I  was  on  the  verge  of  making 
the  sacrifice.  This  was  due  to  the  sights  that  had 
met  my  gaze  when  I  would  go  on  trips  to  Chicago, 
and  such  times  I  would  return  home  feeling  dis 
gusted. 


164  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  BATTLE 

|OME  time  after  the  opening  it  was  an 
nounced  from  Washington  that  the 
Land  Office,  which  was  located  in  one 
of  the  larger  towns  of  the  state,  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  Little  Crow, 
would  be  moved  to  one  of  the  towns  in  the  new 
territory.  The  Land  Office  is  something  like  a 
County  Seat  in  bringing  business  to  a  town,  and 
immediately  every  town  in  Megory  County  began 
a  contest  for  the  office.  However,  it  was  soon 
seen  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Interior  De 
partment  to  locate  it  in  either  Megory  or  Calias. 
So  the  two  familiar  rivals  engaged  in  another 
battle.  But  in  this  Megory  held  the  high  card. 

That  was  about  the  time  the  insurgents  and  stal 
warts  were  in  a  struggle  to  get  control  of  the  State's 
political  machinery.  It  had  waxed  bitter  in  the 
June  primaries  of  that  year  and  the  insurgents  had 
won.  Calias  had  supported  the  losing  candidate, 
who  had  been  overwhelmingly  defeated,  and  both 
senator  and  one  representative  in  Congress  from  the 
state  were  red-hot  insurgents.  The  Nicholson 
Brothers,  bowing  to  tradition,  were  stand  pats. 
Their  father  had  been  a  stalwart  before  them  in 
Iowa,  where  Cummins  had  created  so  much  com 
motion  with  his  insurgency. 

Ernest,  with  his  wife,  had  left  for  the  Orient  to 
spend  the  winter.  After  leaving,  the  announcement 
came  that  the  land  office  would  be  moved.  Even  had 


The    Conquest  165 

he  been  in  Calias  the  result  would  likely  have  been 
the  same,  but  I  had  a  creepy  feeling  that  had  he 
been  on  the  ground  Megory  would  have  had  to 
worked  considerably  harder  at  least. 

After  sending  many  men  from  each  town  down  to 
the  National  Capital,  the  towns  fought  it  out.  With, 
as  I  have  stated,  and  which  was  to  be  expected,  with 
both  Senators  recommending  Megory  as  having 
advantages  over  Calias  in  the  way  of  an  abundant 
supply  of  water  and  a  National  Bank  with  a  capital 
stock  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  the  Interior  Depart 
ment  decided  in  favor  of  Megory,  and  Calias  lost. 

Ernest,  on  hearing  of  the  fight,  hurriedly  returned, 
went  in  to  Washington,  secured  an  appointment 
with  the  Secretary  and  is  said  to  have  made  a  worthy 
plea  for  Calias;  but  to  no  avail  and  the  Megoryites 
returned  home  the  heroes  of  the  day. 

I  was  away  at  the  time,  but  was  told  a  good  share 
of  the  men  of  Megory  were  drunk  the  greater  part 
of  the  week. 

Some  evidence  of  the  rejoicing  was  visible  on  my 
return,  in  the  loss  of  an  eye,  by  a  little  gambler  who 
became  too  enthusiastic  and  run  up  against  a 
"snag."  What  amused  me  most  however,  was  an 
article  written  especially  for  one  of  the  Megory 
papers  by  a  keeper  of  a  racket  store  and  a  known 
shouter  for  the  town.  The  article  represented  the 
contest  as  being  a  big  prize  fight  on  the  Little  Crow 
and  read  something  like  this." 


166  The    Conquest 

BIG  PRIZE  FIGHT  ON  THE  LITTLE  CROW 

PRINCIPALS 
MEGORY,   THE   METROPOLIS   OF  THE 

LITTLE  CROW 
REPUTATION,  THE  SQUARE  DEAL 

CALIAS  BOASTER 
REPUTATION  GRAFTING 
SCENE. — Little  Crow  Reservation. 
TIME.— A.  D.  190— Referee— Washington,  D. 
C. 

SECONDS  FOR  MEGORY. — Flackler,  of  the  Me- 
gory  National. 

FRED  CROFTON,  POSTMASTER. 
FOR  CALIAS,  MAYOR  ROSIE  AND  A  HAS-BEEN, 
FORMERLY  OF  WASHINGTON. 

Round  one.  September.  Principals  enter  the 
ring  and  refuse  to  shake  hands,  referee  Washington, 
D.  C.  announces  fight  to  be  straight  Marquis  of 
Queensbury.  No  hitting  in  the  clinches,  and  a 
clean  break;  a  fight  to  the  finish.  They  are  off. 
Calias  leads  with  a  left  to  the  face,  Megory  counter 
ing  with  a  right  to  the  ribs,  they  clinch.  Referee 
breaks  them,  then  they  spar  and  as  the  gong  sounded 
appeared  evenly  matched. 

Round  two.  October.  They  rush  to  the  center 
of  the  ring  and  clinch,  referee  tells  them  to  break. 
Just  as  this  is  done  Calias  lands  a  terrific  left  to 
Megory's  jaw  following  with  a  right  to  the  body, 
and  Megory  goes  down  for  the  count  of  nine,  getting 
up  with  much  confusion,  only  to  be  floored  again 
with  a  right  to  the  temple.  Megory  rises  very 
groggy,  when  Calias  lands  a  vicious  left  to  the 
mouth,  a  right  to  the  ear  just  as  the  gong  sound- 


The    Conquest  167 

ed,  saving  her  from  a  knock-out.  They  go  to  their 
corners  with  betting  three  to  one  on  Calias  and  no 
takers.  During  the  one  minute's  rest  the  crowd 
whooped  it  up  for  Calias,  thousands  coming  her 
way.  Megory  looked  serious,  sitting  in  the  corner 
thinking  how  she  had  fallen  down  on  some  well- 
laid  plans. 

Round  three.  November.  They  rush  to  a 
clinch  and  spar.  Referee  cautions  Calias  for  but 
ting.  They  do  some  more  sparring,  and  both  seem 
cautious,  with  honors  even  at  the  end  of  the  third 
round. 

Round  four.  December.  They  rush  to  the 
center  of  the  ring  and  begin  to  spar,  then  like  a 
flash,  Megory  lands  a  terrific  swing  on  Calias'  jaw, 
following  it  up  with  a  right  to  the  heart.  Calias 
cries  foul,  but  referee  orders  her  to  proceed,  while 
Megory,  with  eyes  flashing  and  distended  nostrils, 
feints  and  then  like  the  kick  of  a  mule,  lands  a  hard 
left  to  the  mouth,  following  in  quick  succession  with 
jolts,  swings,  jabs  and  upper  cuts.  Mayor  Rosie 
wants  to  throw  up  the  sponge,  but  the  referee  says 
fight.  Megory,  with  a  left  to  the  face  and  right  to 
the  stomach,  then  rushing  both  hands  in  a  blow  to 
the  solar  plexus,  Calias  falls  and  is  counted  out  with 
Megory  winning  the  prize, — Great  Land  Office. 


168  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  SACRIFICE — RACE  LOYALTY 

IETTING  back  to  the  affair  of  the  Scotch 
girl,  I  hated  to  give  up  her  kindness  and 
friendship.  I  would  have  given  half 
my  life  to  have  had  her  possess  just  a 
least  bit  of  negro  blood  in  her  veins,  but  since  she 
did  not  and  could  not  help  it  any  more  than  I  could 
help  being  a  negro,  I  tried  to  forget  it,  straightened 
out  my  business  and  took  a  trip  east,  bent  on  finding 
a  wife  among  my  own. 

As  the  early  morning  train  carried  me  down  the 
road  from  Megory,  I  hoped  with  all  the  hope  of 
early  manhood,  I  would  find  a  sensible  girl  and  not 
like  many  I  knew  in  Chicago,  who  talked  nothing 
but  clothes,  jewelry,  and  a  good  time.  I  had  no 
doubt  there  were  many  good  colored  girls  in  the 
east,  who,  if  they  understood  my  life,  ambition  and 
morality,  would  make  a  good  wife  and  assist  me  in 
building  a  little  empire  on  the  Dakota  plains,  not 
only  as  a  profit  to  ourselves,  but  a  credit  to  the  negro 
race  as  well.  I  wanted  to  succeed,  but  hold  the 
respect  and  good  will  of  the  community,  and  there 
are  few  communities  that  will  sanction  a  marriage 
with  a  white  girl,  hence,  the  sacrifice. 

I  spent  about  six  weeks  visiting  in  Chicago  and 
New  York,  finally  returning  west  to  southern 
Illinois  to  visit  a  family  in  C — dale,  near  M — boro, 
who  were  the  most  prosperous  colored  people  in 
the  town.  They  owned  a  farm  near  town,  nine 
houses  and  lots  in  the  city,  and  were  practical 


The    Conquest  169 

people  who  understood  business  and  what  it  took 
to  succeed. 

They  had  a  daughter  whom  I  had  known  as  a 
child  back  in  the  home  town  M — plis,  where  she  had 
cousins  that  she  used  to  visit.  She  had  by  this 
time  grown  into  a  woman  of  five  and  twenty.  Her 
name  was  Daisy  Hinshaw.  Now  Miss  Hinshaw  was 
not  very  good-looking  but  had  spent  years  in  school 
and  in  many  ways  was  unlike  the  average  colored 
girl.  She  was  attentive  and  did  not  have  her  mind 
full  of  cheap,  showy  ideals.  I  had  written  to  her 
at  times  from  South  Dakota  and  she  had  answered 
with  many  inviting  letters.  Therefore,  when  I 
wrote  her  from  New  York  that  I  intended  paying 
her  a  visit,  she  answered  in  a  very  inviting  letter,  but 
boldly  told  me  not  to  forget  to  bring  her  a  nice 
present,  that  she  would  like  a  large  purse.  I  did 
not  like  such  boldness.  I  should  have  preferred 
a  little  more  modesty,  but  I  found  the  purse,  how 
ever,  a  large  seal  one  in  a  Fifth  Avenue  shop,  for 
six  dollars,  which  Miss  Hinshaw  displayed  with 
much  show  when  I  came  to  town. 

The  town  had  a  colored  population  of  about  one 
thousand  and  the  many  girls  who  led  in  the  local 
society  looked  enviously  upon  Miss  Hinshaw's 
catch — and  the  large  seal  purse — and  I  became  the 
"Man  of  the  Hour"  in  C— dale. 

The  only  marriageable  man  in  the  town  who  did 
not  gamble,  get  drunk  and  carouse  in  a  way  that 
made  him  ineligible  to  decent  society,  was  the  pro 
fessor  of  the  colored  school.  He  was  a  college 
graduate  and  received  sixty  dollars  a  month.  He 
had  been  spoiled  by  too  much  attention,  however, 
and  was  not  an  agreeable  person. 


170  The    Conquest 

Miss  Hinshaw  was  dignified  and  desired  to  marry, 
and  to  marry  somebody  that  amounted  to  some 
thing,  but  she  was  so  bold  and  selfish.  She  took  a 
delight  in  the  reports,  that  were  going  the  rounds, 
that  we  were  engaged,  and  I  was  going  to  have  her 
come  to  South  Dakota  and  file  on  a  Tipp  County 
homestead  relinquishment  that  I  would  buy,  and 
we  would  then  get  married. 

The  only  objector  to  this  plan  was  myself.  I  had 
not  fallen  in  love  with  Miss  Hinshaw  and  did  not 
feel  that  I  could.  Daisy  was  a  nice  girl,  however, 
a  little  odd  in  appearance,  having  a  light  brown 
complexion,  without  color  or  blood  visible  in  the 
cheeks;  was  small  and  bony;  padded  with  so  many 
clothes  that  no  idea  of  form  could  be  drawn.  I 
guessed  her  weight  at  about  ninety  pounds.  She  had 
very  good  hair  but  grey  eyes,  that  gave  her  a  cattish 
appearance. 

She  had  me  walking  with  her  alone  and  permitted 
no  one  to  interfere.  She  would  not  introduce  me 
to  other  girls  while  out,  keeping  me  right  by  her 
side  and  taking  me  home  and  into  her  parlor,  with 
her  and  her  alone,  as  company. 

One  day  I  went  up  town  and  while  there  took  a 
notion  to  go  to  the  little  mining  town,  to  see  the 
relatives  who  had  got  me  the  job  there  seven  years 
before.  But  it  was  ten  miles,  with  no  train  before 
the  following  morning.  Just  then  the  colored 
caller  called  out  a  train  to  M — boro  and  St.  Louis, 
and  all  of  a  sudden  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  had 
almost  forgotten  Miss  Rooks.  Why  not  go  to 
M — boro?  I  had  not  expected  to  pay  her  a  visit 
but  suddenly  decided  that  I  would  just  run  over 


The    Conquest  171 

quietly  and  come  back  on  the  train  to  C — dale  at 
five  o'clock  that  afternoon.  I  jumped  aboard  and 
as  M — boro  was  only  eight  miles,  I  was  soon  in  the 
town,  and  inquiring  where  she  lived. 

I  found  their  house  presently — they  were  always 
moving — and  just  a  trifle  nervously  rang  the  bell. 
The  door  was  opened  in  a  few  minutes  and  before 
me  stood  Jessie.  She  had  changed  quite  a  bit  in 
the  three  years  and  now  with  long  skirts  and  the 
eyes  looked  so  tired  and  dream-like.  She  was  quite 
fascinating,  this  I  took  in  at  a  glance.  She  stam 
mered  out,  "Oh!  Oscar  Dereveaux",  extending  her 
hand  timidly  and  looking  into  my  eyes  as  though 
afraid.  She  looked  so  lonely,  and  I  had  thought 
a  great  deal  of  her  a  few  years  ago — and  perhaps 
it  was  not  all  dead — and  the  next  moment  she  was 
in  my  arms  and  I  was  kissing  her. 

I  did  not  go  back  to  C — dale  on  the  five  nor  on 
the  eight  o'clock —  and  I  did  not  want  to  on  the 
last  train  that  night.  I  was  having  the  most  care 
free  time  of  my  life.  They  were  hours  of  sweetest 
bliss.  With  Jessie  snugly  held  in  the  angle  of  my 
left  arm,  we  poured  out  the  pent-up  feelings  of  the 
past  years.  I  had  a  proposition  to  make,  and  had 
reasons  to  feel  it  would  be  accepted. 

The  family  had  a  hard  time  making  ends  meet. 
Her  father  had  lost  the  mail  carrier's  job  and  had 
run  a  restaurant  later  and  then  a  saloon.  Failing 
in  both  he  had  gone  to  another  town,  starting 
another  restaurant  and  had  there  been  assaulted 
by  a  former  admirer  of  Jessie's,  who  had  struck  him 
with  a  heavy  stick,  fracturing  the  skull  and  injuring 
him  so  that  for  weeks  he  had  not  been  able  to 


172  The    Conquest 

remember  anything.  Although  he  was  then  con 
valescing,  he  was  unable  to  earn  anything.  Her 
mother  had  always  been  helpless,  and  the  support 
fell  on  her  and  a  younger  brother,  who  acted  as 
special  delivery  letter  carrier  and  received  twenty 
dollars  a  month,  while  Jessie  taught  a  country 
school  a  mile  from  town,  receiving  twenty-five  dol 
lars  per  month.  This  she  turned  over  to  the  sup 
port  of  the  household,  and  made  what  she  earned 
sewing  after  school  hours,  supply  her  own  needs. 
It  was  a  long  and  pitiful  tale  she  related  as  we 
walked  together  along  a  dark  street,  with  her  cling 
ing  to  my  arm  and  speaking  at  times  in  a  half  sob. 
My  heart  went  out  to  her,  and  I  wanted  to  help 
and  said:  "Why  did  you  not  write  to  me,  didn't 
you  know  that  I  would  have  done  something?" 

"Well,"  she  answered  slowly,  "I  started  to 
several  times,  but  was  so  afraid  that  you  would 
not  understand."  She  seemed  so  weak  and  forlorn 
in  her  distress.  She  had  never  been  that  way  when 
I  knew  her  before,  and  I  felt  sure  she  had  suffered, 
and  I  was  a  brute,  not  to  have  realized  it.  Twelve 
o'clock  found  me  as  reluctant  to  go  as  five  o'clock 
had,  but  as  we  kissed  lingeringly  at  the  door,  I 
promised  when  I  left  C — dale  two  evenings  later 
I  would  stop  off  at  M — boro  and  we  would  discuss 
the  matter  pro  and  con.  This  was  Saturday  night. 

The  next  morning  I  called  to  see  Daisy.  I  was 
unusually  cheerful,  and  taking  her  face  in  my  hands, 
blew  a  kiss.  She  looked  up  at  me  with  her  grey 
eyes  alert  and  with  an  air  of  suspicion,  said:  "You've 
been  kissing  somebody  else  since  you  left  here." 
Then  leading  me  into  the  parlor  in  her  commanding 


The    Conquest  173 

way,  ordered  me  to  sit  down  and  to  wait  there  until 
she  returned.  She  had  just  completed  cleaning 
and  dusting  the  parlor  and  it  was  in  perfect  order. 
She  seemed  to  me  to  be  more  forward  than  ever 
that  morning,  and  I  felt  a  suspicion  that  I  was  going 
to  get  a  curtain  lecture.  However,  I  escaped  the 
lecture  but  got  stunned  instead. 

Daisy  returned  in  about  an  hour,  dressed  in  a 
rustling  black  silk  dress,  with  powdered  face  and  her 
hair  done  up  elegantly  and  without  ceremony  or 
hesitation  planted  herself  on  the  settee  and  requested, 
or  rather  ordered  me  to  take  a  seat  beside  her. 
She  opened  the  conversation  by  inquiring  of  South 
Dakota,  and  took  my  hand  and  pretended  to  pare 
my  finger  nails.  I  answered  in  nonchalant  tones 
but  after  a  little  she  turned  her  head  a  little  slant 
ingly,  looked  down,  began  just  the  least  hesitant, 
but  firmly:  "Now  what  arrangements  do  you  wish 
me  to  make  in  regard  to  my  coming  to  South 
Dakota  next  fall?" 

For  the  love  of  Jesus,  I  said  to  myself,  if  she 
hasn't  proposed.  Now  one  advantage  of  a  dark 
skin  is  that  one  does  not  .show  his  inner  feeling 
as  noticeably  as  those  of  the  lighter  shade,  and 
I  do  not  know  whether  Miss  Hinshaw  noticed  the 
look  of  embarrassment  that  overspread  my  coun 
tenance.  I  finally  found  words  to  break  the  deadly 
suspense  following  her  bold  action. 

"Oh!"  I  stammered  more  than  spoke,  "I  would 
really  rather  not  make  any  arrangements,  Daisy." 

"Well,"  she  said,  not  in  the  least  taken  back,  "a 
person  likes  to  know  just  how  they  stand." 

"Yes", of  course,!  added  hastily."     "You  see," 


174  The    Conquest 

I  was  just  starting  in  on  a  lengthy  discourse  trying 
to  avoid  the  issue,  when  the  door  bell  rang  and 
a  relative  of  mine  by  the  name  of  Menloe  Robinson, 
who  had  attended  the  university  the  same  time 
Miss  Hinshaw  had,  but  had  been  expelled  for 
gambling  and  other  bad  habits,  came  in.  He  was 
a  bore  most  of  the  time  with  so  much  of  his  college 
talk,  but  I  could  have  hugged  him  then,  I  felt  so 
relieved,  but  Miss  Hinshaw  put  in  before  he  got 
started  to  talking,  wickedly,  that  of  course  if  I 
did  not  want  her  she  could  not  force  it. 

The  next  day  at  noon  I  left  for  St.  Louis  but  did 
not  mention  that  I  was  scheduled  to  stop  off  at 
M — boro.  Miss  Hinshaw  had  grown  sad  in  ap 
pearance  and  looked  so  lonely  I  felt  sorry  for  her 
and  kissed  her  good-bye  at  the  station,  which 
seemed  to  cheer  her  a  little.  She  was  married  to  a 
classmate  about  a  year  later  and  I  have  not  seen 
her  since. 

Jessie  was  glad  to  see  me  when  I  called  that  even 
ing  in  M — boro,  and  we  went  walking  again  and  had 
another  long  talk.  When  we  got  back,  I  sang  the 
old  story  to  which  she  answered  with,  "Do  you 
really  want  me?" 

"Sure,  Jessie,  why  not."  I  looked  into  her  eyes 
that  seemed  just  about  to  shed  tears  but  she  closed 
them  and  snuggled  up  closely,  and  whispered, 
"I  just  wanted  to  hear  you  say  you  wanted  me." 


TheConquest  175 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 

THE  BREEDS 

ERE  the  story  may  have  ended,  that  is, 
had  I  taken  her  to  the  minister,  but  as 
everybody  had  gone  land  crazy  in 
Dakota  and  I  had  determined  to  own 
more  land  myself,  I  told  her  how  I  could  buy  a 
relinquishment  and  she  could  file  on  it  and  then 
we  would  marry  at  once.  Now  when  a  young  man 
and  a  girl  are  in  love  and  feel  each  other  to  be  the 
world  and  all  that's  in  it,  it  is  quite  easy  to  plan, 
and  Miss  Rooks  and  I  were  no  exception.  Had  we 
been  in  South  Dakota  instead  of  Southern  Illinois, 
and  had  it  been  the  month  of  October  instead  of 
January,  nine  months  before,  we  would  have  carried 
out  our  plans,  but  since  it  was  January  we  mutually 
agreed  to  wait  until  the  nine  months  had  elapsed, 
but  something  happened  during  that  time  which 
will  be  told  in  due  time. 

I  enjoyed  feeling  that  I  was  at  last  engaged.  It 
was  positively  delightful,  and  when  I  left  the  next 
morning  to  visit  my  parents  in  Kansas,  I  was  a 
very  happy  person.  While  visiting  there,  shooting 
jack-rabbits  by  day  and  boosting  Dakota  to  the 
Jayhawkers  half  the  night,  I'd  write  to  Miss  Rooks 
sometime  during  each  twenty-four  hours,  and  for 
a  time  received  a  letter  as  often.  Two  sisters  were 
to  be  graduated  from  the  high  school  the  following 
June,  and  wanted  to  come  to  Dakota  in  the  fall  and 
take  up  claims,  but  had  no  money  to  purchase 
relinquishments.  I  agreed  to  mortgage  my  land 


176  The    Conquest 

and  loan  the  money,  but  when  all  was  arranged  it 
was  found  one  of  them  would  not  be  old  enough  in 
time,  so  my  grandmother,  who  had  always  possessed 
a  roving  spirit,  wanted  to  come  and  so  it  was  settled. 

When  I  got  back  to  Dakota  and  jumped  into  my 
spring  work  it  was  with  unusual  vigor  and  con 
templation,  and  all  went  well  for  a  while.  Soon, 
however,  I  failed  to  hear  from  Jessie  and  began  to 
feel  a  bit  uneasy.  When  three  weeks  had  passed 
and  still  no  letter,  I  wrote  again  asking  why  she  did 
not  answer  my  letters.  In  due  time  I  heard  from 
her  stating  that  she  had  been  afraid  I  didn't  love 
her  and  that  she  had  been  told  I  was  engaged  to 
Daisy,  and  as  Daisy  would  be  the  heir  to  the  money 
and  property  of  her  parents  she  felt  sure  my  mar 
riage  to  Miss  Hinshaw  would  be  more  agreeable 
to  me  than  would  a  marriage  with  her,  who  had 
only  a  kind  heart  and  willing  mind  to  offer,  so  she 
had  on  the  first  day  of  April  married  one  whom  she 
felt  was  better  suited  to  her  impoverished  condition. 

Now,  what  she  had  done  was,  in  her  effort  to 
break  off  the  prolonged  courtship  of  the  little  fellow 
referred  to  in  the  early  part  of  this  story  (and  who 
was  still  working  for  three  dollars  a  week),  she  had 
commenced  going  with  another — a  cook  forty-two 
years  of  age,  and  had  thought  herself  desparately 
in  love  with  him  at  the  time.  I  had  not  even 
written  to  Miss  Hinshaw  and  knew  nothing  what 
ever  of  any  engagement.  I  was  much  downcast 
for  a  time,  and  like  some  others  who  have  been 
jilted,  I  grew  the  least  bit  wicked  in  my  thoughts, 
and  felt  she  would  not  find  life  all  sunshine  and 
roses  with  her  forty-two-year-old  groom.  Lots 


TheConquest  177 

of  excitement  was  on  around  Megory  and  Calias, 
and  as  I  liked  excitement,  I  soon  forgot  the  matter. 

With  the  location  of  the  land  office  in  Megory 
and  its  subsequent  removal  from  east  of  the  Mis 
souri,  it  was  found  there  was  only  one  building  in 
the  town,  outside  of  the  banks,  that  contained  a 
vault,  and  a  vault  being  necessary,  it  became  ex 
pedient  for  the  commercial  club  to  provide  an 
office  that  contained  one.  Two  prosperous  real- 
estate  dealers,  whose  office  contained  a  vault, 
readily  turned  over  their  building  to  the  register 
and  receiver  until  the  land  office  building,  then 
under  construction,  should  be  completed.  A  build 
ing  twenty-five  by  sixty  feet  was  built  in  the  street 
just  in  front  of  the  office,  to  be  used  as  a  temporary 
map  room,  and  to  be  moved  away  as  soon  as  the 
filing  was  over. 

The  holders  of  lucky  numbers  had  been  requested 
to  appear  at  a  given  hour  on  a  certain  day  to  offer 
filings  on  Tipp  county  claims.  By  the  time  the 
filing  had  commenced,  the  hotels  of  both  towns 
were  filled,  and  tents  covered  all  the  vacant  lots, 
while  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  more  autos,  to  be 
hired  at  twenty-five  dollars  per  day,  did  a  rushing 
business.  The  settlers  seemed  to  be  possessed  of 
abundant  capital,  and  deposits  in  the  local  banks 
increased  out  of  all  proportion  to  those  of  previous 
times. 

Besides  the  holders  of  numbers,  hundreds  of  other 
settlers,  who  had  purchased  land  in  Megory  county, 
were  moving  in  at  the  same  time,  bringing  stock, 
machinery,  household  goods  and  plenty  of  money. 


12 


178  The    Conquest 

Those  were  bountiful  days  for  the  locators  and 
land  sharks. 

When  Megory  county  opened  for  settlement  a 
few  years  previous,  it  was  found  that  the  Indians 
had  taken  practically  all  their  allotments  along  the 
streams,  where  wood  and  water  were  to  be  had. 
The  most  of  these  allotments  were  on  the  Monca 
bottom  below  Old  Calias.  In  fact,  they  had  taken 
the  entire  valley  that  far  up.  The  timber  along 
the  creek  was  very  small,  being  stunted  from  many 
fires,  and  consisted  mostly  of  cotton  wood,  elm, 
box-elder,  oak  and  ash.  All  but  the  oak  and  ash 
being  easily  susceptible  to  dry  rot,  were  unfit  for 
posts  or  anything  except  for  shade  and  firewood. 
This  made  the  valley  lands  cheaper  than  the  up 
lands. 

The  Indians  were  always  selling  and  are  yet, 
what  is  furnished  them  by  the  government,  for  all 
they  can  get.  When  given  the  money  spends  it  as 
quickly  as  he  possibly  can,  buying  fine  horses,  buggies, 
whiskey,  and  what-not.  Their  only  idea  being  that 
it  is  to  spend.  The  Sioux  Indians,  in  my  opinion, 
are  the  wealthiest  tribe.  They  owned  at  one  time 
the  larger  part  of  southern  South  Dakota  and  north 
ern  Nebraska,  and  own  a  lot  of  it  yet.  Be  it  said, 
however,  it  is  simply  because  the  government  will 
not  allow  them  to  sell. 

The  breeds  near  Old  Calias  were  easily  flattered, 
and  when  the  white  people  invited  them  to  anything 
they  always  came  dressed  in  great  regalia,  but  after 
the  settlers  came  there  was  not  much  inter-marry 
ing,  such  as  there  had  been  before.  A  family  of 
mixed-bloods  by  the  name  of  Cutschall,  owned 


TheConquest  179 

all  the  land  just  south  of  Old  Calias,  in  fact  the  site 
where  Calias  had  stood,  was  formerly  the  allot 
ment  of  a  deceased  son.  The  father,  known  as 
old  Tom  Cutschall,  was  for  years  a  landmark  on 
the  creek. 

Now  and  then  Nicholson  Brothers  had  invited 
the  Cutschalls  to  some  of  their  social  doings,  which 
made  the  Cutschalls  feel  exalted,  and  higher  still, 
when  Ernest  suggested  he  could  get  them  a  patent 
for  their  land  and  then  would  buy  it.  This  suited 
Cutschalls  dandy.  Ernest  offered  seven  thousand 
dollars  for  the  section,  and  they  accepted.  At  that 
time,  by  recommending  the  Indian  to  be  a  competent 
citizen  and  able  to  care  for  himself,  a  patent  would 
be  granted  on  proper  recommendation,  and  Nichol 
son  Brothers  attended  to  that  and  got  Mrs.  Cutschall 
the  patent.  Tom,  her  husband,  being  a  white 
man,  could  not  be  allotted,  and  she  had  been  given 
the  section  as  the  head  of  the  family.  It  is  said 
they  spent  the  seven  thousand  dollars  in  one  year. 
The  company  of  which  the  father  of  the  Nicholson 
Brothers  was  president  made  a  loan  of  eight  thou 
sand  dollars  on  the  land,  and  shortly  afterward 
they  sold  it  for  twenty-three  thousand  dollars. 
The  lots  had  brought  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  in  Calias  and  were  still  selling,  so 
this  placed  the  "Windy  Nicholsons,"  as  they  had 
been  called  by  jealous  Megoryites,  in  a  position  of 
much  importance,  and  they  were  by  this  time  recog 
nized  as  men  of  no  small  ability. 

Years  before  Megory  county  was  opened  to  settle 
ment,  many  white  men  had  drifted  onto  the  reser 
vation  and  had  engaged  in  ranching,  and  had  in 


180  The    Conquest 

the  meantime  married  squaws.  This  appears  to 
have  been  done  more  by  the  French  than  any  other 
nationality,  judging  by  the  many  French  names 
among  the  mixed-bloods.  Among  these  were  a 
family  by  the  name  of  Amoureaux,  consisting  of 
four  boys  and  several  girls.  The  girls  had  all 
married  white  men,  and  the  little  while  Old  Calias 
was  in  existence,  two  of  the  boys,  William  and 
George,  used  to  go  there  often  and  were  entertained 
by  the  Nicholson  Brothers  with  as  much  splendor 
as  Calias  could  afford.  The  Amoureaux  were  high 
moguls  in  Little  Crow  society  during  the  first  two 
years  and  everybody  took  off  their  hats  to  them. 
They  were  called  the  "rich  mixed-bloods,"  and  were 
engaged  in  ranching  and  owned  great  herds  in  Tipp 
county.  When  they  shipped  it  was  by  the  train- 
loads.  The  Amoureaux  and  the  Colones,  another 
family  of  wealthy  breeds,  were  married  to  white 
women,  and  the  husbands,  as  heads  of  families,  held 
a  section  of  land  and  the  children  each  held  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

Before  the  Nicholson  Brothers  had  left  Old 
Calias  and  before  they  had  reached  the  position 
they  now  occupied,  as  I  stated,  they  had  shown  the 
Amoureaux  a  "good  time."  They  did  not  have 
much  Indian  blood  in  their  veins,  being  what  are 
called  quarter-breeds,  having  a  French  father  and 
a  half-blood  Indian  mother,  and  were  all  fine  look 
ing.  George  had  seven  children  and  the  family 
altogether  had  eleven  quarter  sections  of  land  and 
two  thousand  head  of  cattle,  so  there  was  no  reason 
why  he  should  not  have  been  the  "big  chief,"  but 
so  much  society  and  paid-for  notoriety  had  brought 


The    Conquest  181 

about  a  change  to  him  and  his  brother.  William, 
who  had  always  been  a  money-maker  and  a  still 
bigger  spender,  with,  the  fine  looks  thrown  in,  had 
shown  like  a  skyrocket  before  bursting. 

A  rich  Indian  is  something  worth  associating 
with,  but  a  poor  one  is  of  small  note.  The  Amour- 
eaux  spent  so  freely  that  in  a  few  years  they  were 
all  in,  down  and  out — had  nothing  but  their  allot 
ments  left,  and  these  the  government  would  not 
give  patents  to,  the  Colones  had  done  likewise,  and 
together  they  had  all  moved  into  Tipp  county. 

Now  there  was  another  Amoureaux,  the  oldest 
one  of  the  boys,  who  like  the  others  had  "blowed 
his  roll,"  but  happened  to  have  an  allotment  in 
the  very  picturesque  valley  of  the  Dog  Ear,  in  Tipp 
county,  near  the  center  of  the  county,  and  when  a 
bunch  of  promoters  decided  to  lay  out  a  town  they 
made  a  deal  with  Oliver,  taking  him  into  the  com 
pany,  he  furnishing  the  land  and  they  the  brains. 
They  laid  out  the  site  and  began  the  town,  naming 
it  "  Amoureaux "  in  honor  of  the  breed,  which  made 
Oliver  feel  very  big,  indeed. 


182  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  DOG  EAR 


HE  boom  in  Megory  and  Calias  took 
such  proportions  that  it  made  every 
investor  prosperous,  a  goodly  number 
___^^i|rf  whom  sold  out,  settled  in  Amoureaux, 
and  the  beautiful  townsite  soon  became  one  of 
the  most  popular  trade  centers  in  the  new  county. 
It  was  the  only  townsite  where  trees  stood,  and 
the  investors  thought  it  a  great  thing  that  they 
would  not  have  to  wait  a  score  of  years  to  grow  them. 
Among  the  money  investors  in  the  town  was  old 
Dad  Burpee,  the  former  Oristown  and  Megory  stage 
driver.  When  talking  with  him  one  day  he  told 
me  he  had  saved  three  thousand  dollars  while  run 
ning  the  stage  line  and  had  several  good  horses 
besides.  "Dad/'  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  had 
invested  a  part  of  his  bank  account  in  a  corner 
lot  and  put  up  a  two-story  building,  and  soon 
became  an  Amoureaux  booster.  Old  "  Dad  "  opened 
up  a  stage  line  between  Calias  and  the  new  town, 
but  this  line  did  not  pay  as  well  as  the  old  one,  for 
no  one  rode  with  him  except  when  the  weather  was 
bad,  as  the  people  were  all  riding  now  in  automo 
biles.  In  a  short  time  every  line  of  business  was 
represented  in  Amoureaux  and  when  the  settlers 
began  to  arrive,  Amoureaux  did  a  flourishing  business. 
In  coming  from  Calias,  the  trail  led  over  a  mon 
strous  hill,  and  from  the  top  "Amro,"  the  name 
having  been  shortened,  nestling  in  the  valley  below, 
reminding  me  of  Mexico  City  as  it  appeared  from 


The    Conquest  183 

the  highlands  near  Cuernavaca.  A  party  from 
Hedrick,  by  the  name  of  Van  Neter,  built  a  hotel 
fifty  by  one  hundred  feet,  with  forty  rooms,  and 
during  the  opening  and  filing  made  a  small  fortune. 
The  house  was  always  full  and  high  prices  were 
charged,  and  thus  Amro  prospered. 

During  the  month  of  April  the  promoters  suc 
ceeded  in  having  the  governor  call  an  election 
to  organize  the  county,  the  election  to  be  held  in 
June  following.  The  filing  had  been  made  in  April 
and  May,  and  as  conditions  were,  no  one  could 
vote  except  cowboys,  Indians  and  mixed-bloods. 
In  the  election  Amro  won  the  county  seat,  and 
settlers  moving  into  the  county  were  exceedingly 
mortified  over  the  fact,  having  to  be  governed 
eighteen  months  by  an  outlaw  set  who  had  deprived 
them  of  a  voice  in  the  organization  of  the  county. 
As  Amro  had  won,  it  soon  became  the  central  city 
and  grew,  as  Calias  had  grown,  and  in  a  short  time 
had  a  half-dozen  general  stores,  two  garages,  four 
hotels,  four  banks,  and  every  other  line  of  business 
that  goes  to  make  up  a  western  town.  Its  four 
livery  barns  did  all  the  business  their  capacity  would 
permit,  while  the  saloons  and  gamblers  feasted  on 
the  easy  eastern  cash  that  fell  into  their  pockets. 
In  July  the  lot  sales  of  the  government  towns  were 
held,  but  only  one  amounted  to  much,  that  town 
being  farthest  west  and  miles  from  the  eastern  line 
of  the  county.  This  was  Kitten,  and  under  a 
ruling  of  the  Interior  Department,  a  deposit  of 
twenty-five  dollars  was  accepted  on  an  option  of 
sixty  days,  after  which  a  payment  of  one-half  the 
price  of  the  lot  was  required.  Here  it  must  be  said 


184  The    Conquest 

that  almost  every  dollar  invested  on  the  Little  Crow 
had  been  doubled  in  a  short  time,  and  in  many 
instances  a  hundred  dollars  soon  grew  to  a  thousand 
or  more. 

Practically  all  the  lowest  number  holders  had 
filed  around  Kitten,  including  numbers  one  and  two. 
Ever  since  the  opening  of  Oklahoma  in  1901,  when 
number  one  took  a  claim  adjoining  the  city  of 
Lawton,  and  the  owner  is  said  to  have  received 
thirty  thousand  dollars  for  it,  the  holder  of  number 
one  in  every  opening  of  western  land  since  has  been 
a  very  conspicuous  figure,  and  this  was  not  lost  on 
the  holder  of  number  one  in  Tipp  county — who  was 
a  divorced  woman.  She  took  her  claim  adjoining 
the  town  of  Kitten,  which  fact  brought  the  town 
considerable  attention.  The  lots  in  the  town 
brought  the  highest  price  of  any  which  had  been 
sold  in  any  town  on  the  Little  Crow,  up  to  that  time, 
several  having  sold  for  from  one  thousand,  two  hun 
dred  to  one  thousand,  four  hundred  dollars  and  one 
as  high  as  two  thousand  and  fifty  dollars. 

The  town  of  Amro,  being  surrounded  by  Indian 
allotments,  had  few  settlers  in  its  immediate  vicinity. 
The  Indians,  profiting  by  their  experience  in  Me- 
gory  county,  where  they  learned  that  good  location 
meant  increase  in  the  value  of  their  lands,  had,  in 
selecting  allotments,  taken  nearly  all  the  land  just 
west  of  Amro,  as  they  had  taken  practically  all  of 
the  good  land  just  west  of  Calias  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Tipp  county.  The  good  land  all  over  the  county 
had  been  picked  over  and  the  Indians  had  selected 
much  of  the  best,  but  Tipp  county  is  a  large  one, 
and  several  hundred  thousand  acres  of  good  land 


The    Conquest  185 

were   available    for   homesteading,    though    much 
scattered  as  to  location. 

When  July  arrived  and  still  no  surveyors  for  the 
railroad  company  had  put  in  their  appearance,  it 
was  feared  that  no  extension  work  would  be  com 
menced  that  year,  but  shortly  after  the  lot  sale  at 
Kitten,  the  surveyors  arrived  in  the  county  and  ran 
a  survey  west  from  Calias  eleven  miles  to  a  town 
named  after  the  Colones,  referred  to,  striking  the 
town,  then  proceeding  northwest,  missing  Amro 
and  crossing  the  Dog  Ear  about  two  miles  north  of 
the  town,  then  following  a  divide  almost  due  west 
to  the  county  line  on  the  west,  running  just  south 
of  a  conspicuous  range  of  hills  known  as  the  "Red 
Hills/'  missing  every  town  in  the  county  except 
Colone.  This  caused  a  temporary  check  in  the 
excitement  around  Amro,  but  as  it  had  the  county 
seat  it  felt  secure,  as  a  county  seat  means  much  to 
a  western  village,  and  felt  the  railroad  would  event 
ually  go  there.  In  fact  the  citizens  of  the  town  boast 
ed  that  the  road  could  not  afford  to  miss  it,  pointing 
with  pride  to  the  many  teams  to  be  seen  in  her 
streets  daily  and  the  bee-like  activity  of  the  town 
in  general.  I  visited  the  town  many  times,  but 
from  the  first  time  I  saw  the  place  I  felt  sure  the 
railroad  would  never  go  there  as  two  miles  to  the 
north  was  the  natural  divide,  that  the  survey  had 
followed  all  the  way  from  Colone  to  the  Dog  Ear 
and  on  to  the  west  side  of  the  county,  which  is 
a  natural  right-of-way.  When  I  argued  with  the 
people  in  the  town,  that  Amro  would  not  get  the 
railroad,  I  brought  out  a  storm  of  protest. 


186  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXX 

ERNEST  NICHOLSON  TAKES  A  HAND 


jFTER  completing  the  first  survey,  how 
ever,  the  surveyors  returned,  and  made 
another  that  struck  Amro.  This  survey 
swerved  off  from  the  first  survey  to  the 
southwest  between  Colone  and  Amro  and  struck 
the  valley  of  a  little  stream  known  as  Mud  Creek, 
which  empties  into  the  Dog  Ear  at  Amro.  But 
being  a  most  illogical  route,  I  felt  confident  the 
C.  &  R.  W.  had  no  intention  of  following  it,  perhaps 
only  making  the  survey  out  of  courtesy  to  the  people 
in  Amro,  or  possibly  to  show  to  the  state  railroad 
commissioners,  if  they  became  insistent,  why  they 
could  not  strike  the  town. 

About  this  time  Ernest  Nicholson  appeared  on 
the  scene,  and  purchased  a  forty  acre  tract  of  land 
north  of  the  town,  for  which  he  paid  fifty-five  dollars 
an  acre,  later  paying  ten  thousand  dollars  for  a 
quarter,  joining  the  forty.  Still  later  he  purchased 
the  entire  section  of  heirship  land,  belonging  to  a 
man  named  Jim  Riggins,  an  Oristown  city  justice, 
and  a  former  squaw-man,  whose  deceased  wife  had 
owned  the  land.  For  this  section  of  land  the 
Nicholsons  paid  thirty-five  thousand  dollars.  The 
price  staggered  the  people  of  Amro,  who  declared 
Nicholson  had  certainly  gone  crazy.  They  set 
up  a  terrible  "howl."  "What  were  the  d—  Nichol 
sons  sticking  their  noses  into  Tipp  county  towns 
for?  Were  they  not  satisfied  with  C  alias,  where 
they  had  grafted  everybody  out  of  their  money?" 


The    Conquest  187 

No,  the  trouble,  they  all  agreed,  was  that  Ernest 
wanted  to  run  the  country  and  wanted  to  be  the 
"big  stick."  But  they  consoled  themselves  for 
awhile  with  the  fact  that  Amro  had  the  county  seat 
and  was  growing.  The  settlers  were  trading  in 
Amro,  for  Amro  had  what  they  needed.  An  in 
dignation  meeting  was  held,  where  with  much  feel 
ing  they  denounced  the  actions  of  Ernest  Nicholson 
in  buying  land  north  of  the  town  and  announcing 
that  he  would  build  a  town  such  as  the  Little  Crow 
had  never  dreamed  of,  and  that  Amro  should  at 
once  begin  to  move  over  to  the  new  townsite  and 
save  money;  but  they  were  hot.  Old  Dad  Durpee, 
in  his  shirt  sleeves,  corduroy  and  boots,  his  shaggy 
beard  flowing,  declared  that  the  low-down,  stinking, 
lying  cuss  would  not  dare  to  ask  him  to  move  to 
the  town  he  had  as  yet  not  even  named;  but  Ernest, 
at  the  wheel  of  a  big  new  sixty-horse  power  Packard, 
continued  to  buy  land  along  the  railroad  survey 
all  the  way  to  the  west  line  of  the  county.  In  fact 
he  bought  every  piece  of  land  that  was  purchasable. 
I  watched  this  fight  from  the  beginning,  with 
interest,  for  I  had  become  well  enough  acquainted 
with  Ernest  to  feel  that  he  knew  what  he  was  about. 
When  the  surveyors  had  arrived  in  Calias,  Ernest 
had  gone  to  Chicago.  In  declaring  the  road  could 
not  miss  Amro  the  people  were  much  like  inhabi 
tants  of  Megory  had  been  a  few  years  before.  While 
they  prattled  and  allowed  their  ego  to  rule,  they 
should  have  been  busy,  and  when  it  was  seen  that 
the  town  might  not  get  the  railroad,  they  should 
have  gone  to  Chicago  and  seen  Marvin  Hewitt, 
putting  the  proposition  squarely  before  him,  and 


188  The    Conquest 

requested  that  if  he  could  not  give  them  the  road,  to 
give  them  a  depot,  if  they  moved  to  the  line  of  the 
survey.  By  that  time  it  was  a  town  with  two  solid 
blocks  of  business  houses  and  many  good  merchants 
and  bankers.  I  often  wondered  how  such  men 
could  be  so  pinheaded,  sitting  back,  declaring  the 
great  C.  &  R.  W.  railway  could  not  afford  to  miss 
a  little  burg  like  Amro,  but  from  previous  observa 
tions  and  experience  I  felt  sure  they  would  wait 
until  the  last  dog  was  dead,  before  trying  to  see 
what  they  could  do.  And  they  did. 

In  the  meantime  the  promoters,  who  were 
nearly  all  from  Megory  or  somewhere  in  Megory 
county,  had  learned  that  Ernest  Nicholson  was 
nobody's  fool.  They  hooted  the  Nicholsons,  along 
with  the  rest  of  the  town,  declaring  Ernest  to  be 
anything  but  what  he  really  was,  until  they  had 
roused  enough  excitement  to  make  Amro  seem  like 
a  "good  thing. "  Then  they  quietly  sold  their 
interest  to  the  Amoureaux  Brothers,  who  raked  up 
about  all  that  was  left  of  the  fortune  of  a  few  years 
previous,  and  paid  six  thousand,  six  hundred  dollars 
for  the  interest  of  the  promoters  which  made  the 
Amoureaux  the  sole  owners  of  the  townsite  and 
placed  them  in  obvious  control  of  the  town's  affairs, 
and  again  in  the  white  society  they  liked  so  well. 

All  the  Calias  lumber  yards  owned  branch  yards 
at  Amro  and  everybody  continued  to  do  a  flourish 
ing  business.  The  Amroites  paid  little  attention 
to  the  platting  of  the  townsite  to  the  north,  nor 
made  a  single  effort  to  ascertain  which  survey  the 
railroad  would  follow,  but  continued  to  boast  that 
Amro  would  get  the  road.  About  this  time  Ernest 


TheConquest  189 

Nicholson  called  a  meeting  in  Amro,  inviting  all 
the  business  men  to  be  present  and  hear  a  proposi 
tion  that  he  had  to  make,  stating  he  hoped  the 
citizens  of  the  town  and  himself  could  get  together 
without  friction  or  ill-feeling.  The  meeting  was 
held  in  Burpee's  hall  and  everybody  attended; 
some  out  of  curiosity,  some  out  of  fear,  and  but 
few  with  any  expectation  or  intention  of  agreeing 
to  move  to  the  north  townsite.  Ernest  addressed 
the  meeting,  first  thanking  them  for  their  presence, 
then  plunged  headlong  into  the  purpose  of  the 
meeting.  He  explained  that  it  was  quite  impos 
sible  for  the  road  to  go  to  Amro,  this  he  had  feared 
before  a  survey  was  made,  but  that  he  had  ascer 
tained  while  in  Chicago  that  the  road  would  not 
strike  Amro.  He  then  read  a  letter  from  Marvin 
Hewitt,  the  "man  of  destiny, "  so  far  as  the  location 
of  the  railroad  was  concerned,  which  stated  that  the 
road  would  be  extended  and  the  depot  would  be 
located  on  section  twenty,  which  was  the  section 
Ernest  had  purchased.  Then  he  brought  up  the 
matter  of  the  distribution  of  lots  which  was,  that 
to  every  person  who  moved  or  began  to  move  to 
the  new  townsite  within  thirty  days,  one-half  of  the 
purchase  price  of  the  lot  would  be  refunded.  The 
price  of  the  business  lots  ranged  from  eight  hundred 
to  two  thousand  dollars,  while  residence  lots  were 
from  fifty  to  three  hundred.  "Think  it  over,"  he 
said,  in  closing,  and  was  gone. 

Needless  to  say  they  paid  little  attention  to  the 
proposition.  The  Amro  Journal  "roasted"  and 
cartooned  the  Nicholson  Brothers  in  the  same  way 
Megory  papers  had  done,  on  account  of  the  town  of 
Calias. 


190  The    Conquest 

After  thirty  days  had  elapsed,  the  Nicholsons 
warned  the  people  of  Amro  that  it  was  the  last 
opportunity  they  would  have  to  accept  his  proposi 
tion,  and  when  they  paid  no  attention  to  his  warning, 
he  named  the  new  town.  I  shall  not  soon  forget 
how  the  people  outside  of  the  town  of  Amro  laughed 
over  the  name  applied  to  the  new  town,  as  its  appli 
cation  to  the  situation  was  so  accurate  and  descrip 
tive  of  later  events,  that  I  regret  I  must  substitute 
a  name  for  the  purposes  of  this  story,  but  which  is 
the  best  I  am  able  to  find,  "Victor." 

Instead  of  moving  to  Victor,  taking  advantage 
of  choice  of  location  and  the  purchase  of  a  lot  at 
half  price,  the  Amroites  began  making  improve 
ments  in  their  town,  putting  down  cement  walks 
ten  feet  wide  the  length  of  the  two  business  blocks 
and  walks  on  side  streets  as  well.  A  school  election 
was  called  and  as  a  result  an  eleven-thousand-dollar 
school  house  was  erected,  a  modern  two-story  build 
ing,  with  basement  and  gymnasium.  The  building 
was  large  enough  to  hold  all  the  population  of  Amro 
if  all  the  men,  women  and  children  were  of  school 
age,  and  still  have  room  for  many  more.  This  act 
brought  a  storm  of  criticism  from  the  settlers,  and 
even  many  of  the  people  of  the  town  thought  it 
quite  a  needless  extravagance;  but  Van  Neter,  who 
was  strong  for  education  and  for  Amro,  had  put 
it  through  and  figured  he  had  won  a  point.  He  was 
the  county  superintendent.  Most  of  the  people 
claimed  the  town  would  soon  grow  large  enough 
to  require  the  building,  and  let  it  go  at  that. 

People  began  drifting  into  Victor,  buying  lots 
and  putting  up  good  buildings.  Nicholsons  an- 


The    Conquest  191 

nounced  a  lot  sale  and  preparations  began  for  much 
active  boosting  for  the  new  town.  In  the  election 
to  be  held  a  year  later,  they  hoped  to  wrest  the 
county  seat  from  Amro. 

When  Ernest  Nicholson  saw  the  improvements 
being  made  in  Amro  and  no  sign  of  moving  the 
town,  he  began  to  scheme,  and  I  could  see  that  if 
Amro  wasn't  going  to  move  peacefully  he  would 
help  it  along  in  some  other  way.  However,  nothing 
was  done  before  the  lot  sale,  which  was  advertised 
to  take  place  in  the  lobby  of  the  Nicholson  Brothers' 
new  office  building  in  Calias. 

On  the  date  advertised  for  the  lot  sale,  crowds 
gathered  and  many  who  had  no  intentions  of  in 
vesting,  attended  the  sale  out  of  curiosity.  I  took 
a  crowd  to  Calias  from  Megory,  among  whom  was 
Joy  Flackler,  cashier  of  the  Megory  National  Bank, 
who  stated  that  Frank  Woodring  had  loaned  the 
Nicholsons  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  buy  the  town- 
site.  Megoryites  still  held  a  grudge  against  the 
Nicholsons,  and  Flackler  seemed  to  wish  they  had 
asked  the  loan  of  him  so  he  might  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  turning  them  down. 

The  second  day  of  the  lot  sale,  a  bunch  of  bar 
tenders,  gamblers  and  Amro's  rougher  class  ap 
peared  on  the  scene  and  distributed  handbills  which 
announced  that  Amro  had  contracted  for  a  half 
section  on  the  survey  north  of  the  town  and  would 
move  in  a  body  if  moving  was  necessary.  The 
crowd  styled  themselves  "Amro  knockers,"  whose 
purpose  it  was  to  show  prospective  lot  buyers  that 
in  purchasing  Victor  lots  they  were  buying  "a  pig 
in  a  poke."  The  knocking  was  done  mostly  in 


192  The    Conquest 

saloons,  where  the  knockers  got  drunk  and  were 
promptly  arrested  before  the  sale  started.  The 
sale  went  along  unhindered.  The  auctioneer,  stand 
ing  above  the  crowds,  waxed  eloquent  in  pointing 
out  the  advantages,  describing  Sioux  City  on  the 
east  and  Deadwood  and  Lead  on  the  west,  and 
explaining  that  eventually  a  city  must  spring  up 
in  that  section  of  the  country,  that  would  grow  into 
a  prairie  metropolis  of  probably  ten  thousand 
people,  and  whether  the  crowd  before  him  took  his 
eloquence  seriously  or  not,  they  at  least  had  the 
chance  at  the  choice  of  the  lots  and  locations,  and 
eighty-four  thousand  dollars  worth  of  lots  were 
sold. 


bo 

.s 

"So 

.s 


The    Conquest  193 

CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE  M'CRALINES 

before  mentioned,  I  was  given  largely 
to  observation  and  to  reading  and  was 
fairly  well  posted  on  current  events. 
I  was  always  a  lover  of  success  and 
nothing  interested  me  more  after  a  day's  work  in 
the  field  than  spending  my  evening  hours  in  reading. 
What  I  liked  best  was  some  good  story  with  a  moral. 
I  enjoyed  reading  stories  by  Maude  Radford  War 
ren,  largely  because  her  stories  were  so  very  practical 
and  true  to  life.  Having  traveled  and  seen  much 
of  the  country,  while  running  as  a  porter  for  the 

P n  Company,  I  could  follow  much  of  her 

writings,  having  been  over  the  ground  covered  by 
the  scenes  of  many  of  her  stories.  Another  feature 
of  her  writings  which  pleased  me  was  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  characters,  unlike  the  central  figures 
in  many  stories,  who  all  become  fabulously  wealthy, 
were  often  only  fairly  successful  and  gained  only 
a  measure  of  wealth  and  happiness,  that  did  not 
reach  prohibitive  proportions. 

Perhaps  I  should  not  have  become  so  set  against 
stories  whose  heroes  invariably  became  multi 
millionaires,  had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  younger  members  of  my  race,  with  whom  I 
had  made  acquaintance  in  my  trips  to  Chicago 
and  other  parts  of  the  country,  always  appeared  to 
intimate  in  their  conversation,  that  a  person  should 
have  riches  thrust  upon  them  if  they  sacrificed  all 
their  "good  times,"  as  they  termed  it,  to  go  out 
13 


194  TheConquest 

west.  Of  course  the  easterner,  in  most  stories, 
conquers  and  becomes  rich,  that  is,  after  so  much 
sacrifice.  The  truth  is,  in  real  life  only  about  one 
in  ten  of  the  eastern  people  make  good  at  ranching 
or  homesteading,  and  that  one  is  usually  well 
supplied  with  capital  in  the  beginning,  though  of 
course  there  are  exceptions.  Colored  people  are 
much  unlike  the  people  of  other  races.  For  in 
stance,  all  around  me  in  my  home  in  Dakota  were 
foreigners  of  practically  all  nations,  except  Italians 
and  Jews,  among  them  being  Swedes,  Norwegians, 
Danes,  Assyrians  from  Jerusalem,  many  Austrians, 
some  Hungarians,  and  lots  of  Germans  and  Irish, 
these  last  being  mostly  American  born,  and  also 
many  Russians.  The  greater  part  of  these  people 
are  good  farmers  and  were  growing  prosperous 
on  the  Little  Crow,  and  seeing  this,  I  worked  the 
harder  to  keep  abreast  of  them,  if  not  a  little  ahead. 
This  was  my  fifth  year  and  still  there  had  not  been 
a  colored  person  on  my  land.  Many  more  settlers 
had  some  and  Tipp  county  was  filling  up,  but  still 
no  colored  people.  My  white  neighbors  had  many 
visitors  from  their  old  homes  and  but  few  but  had 
visitors  at  some  time  to  see  them  and  see  what  they 
were  doing. 

During  my  visit  to  Kansas  the  spring  previous, 
I  had  found  many  prosperous  colored  families,  most 
of  whom  had  settled  in  Kansas  in  the  seventies 
and  eighties  and  were  mostly  ex-slaves,  but  were  not 
like  the  people  of  southern  Illinois,  contented  and 
happy  to  eke  a  living  from  the  farm  they  pretended 
to  cultivate,  but  made  their  farms  pay  by  careful 
methods.  The  farms  they  owned  had  from  a 


The    Conquest  195 

hundred  and  sixty  acres  to  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  and  one  colored  man  there  at  that  time  owned 
eleven  hundred  acres  with  twelve  thousand  dollars  in 
the  bank. 

Wherever  I  had  been,  however,  I  had  always 
found  a  certain  class  in  large  and  small  towns  alike 
whose  object  in  life  was  obviously  nothing,  but 
who  dressed  up  and  aped  the  white  people. 

After  Miss  Rooks  had  married  I  was  again  in  the 
condition  of  the  previous  year,  but  during  the  sum 
mer  I  had  written  to  a  young  lady  who  had  been 
teaching  in  M — boro  and  whom  I  had  met  while 
visiting  Miss  Rooks.  Her  name  was  Orlean  Mc- 
Craline,  and  her  father  was  a  minister  and  had 
been  the  pastor  of  our  church  in  M — pis  when  I 
was  a  baby,  but  for  the  past  seventeen  years  had 
been  acting  as  presiding  elder  over  the  southern 
Illinois  district.  Miss  McCraline  had  answered 
my  letters  and  during  the  summer  we  had  been 
very  agreeable  correspondents,  and  when  in  Sep 
tember  I  contracted  for  three  relinquishments  of 
homestead  filings,  I  decided  to  ask  her  to  marry 
me  but  to  come  and  file  on  a  Tipp  county  claim 
first. 

To  get  the  money  for  the  purchase  of  the  relin 
quishments,  I  had  mortgaged  my  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  for  seven  thousand,  six  hundred 
dollars,  the  relinquishments  costing  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  six  thousand,  four  hundred  dollars. 
October  was  the  time  when  the  land  would  be 
open  to  homestead  filing,  and  Miss  McCraline  had 
written  that  she  would  like  to  homestead.  After 
sending  my  sister  and  grandmother  the  money  to 


196  The    Conquest 

come  to  Dakota,  I  went  to  Chicago,  where  I  arrived 
one  Saturday  morning.  I  had,  since  being  in  the 
west,  stopped  at  the  home  of  a  maiden  lady  about 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  in  talking  with  her  I 
had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  family.  Evidently 
she  did  not  know  I  had  come  to  see  Orlean,  or  that 
I  was  even  acquainted  with  the  family.  I  spoke 
of  the  Rev.  McCraline  and  asked  her  if  she  knew 
him. 

"Who,  old  N.  J.  McCraline?"  she  asked. 
"Humph,"  she  went  on  with  a  contemptuous  snort. 
"Yes,  I  know  him  and  know  him  to  be  the  biggest 
old  rascal  in  the  Methodist  church.  He's  lower 
than  a  dog,"  she  continued,  "and  if  it  wasn't  for 
his  family  they  would  have  thrown  him  out  of  the 
conference  long  ago,  but  he  has  a  good  family  and 
for  that  reason  they  let  him  stay  on,  but  he  has  no 
principle  and  is  mean  to  his  wife,  never  goes  out 
with  her  nor  does  anything  for  her,  but  courts  every 
woman  on  his  circuit  who  will  notice  him  and  has 
been  doing  it  for  years.  When  he  is  in  Chicago  he 
spends  his  time  visiting  a  woman  on  the  west  side. 
Her  name  is  Mrs.  Ewis." 

This  recalled  to  my  mind  that  during  the  spring 
I  had  come  to  Chicago  I  had  become  acquainted 
with  Mrs.  Ewis'  son  and  had  been  entertained  at 
their  home  on  Vernon  Avenue  where  at  that  time 
the  two  families,  McCraline  and  Ewis,  rented  a  flat 
together,  and  although  I  had  seen  the  girls  I  had 
not  become  acquainted  with  any  of  the  McCraline 
family  then.  Orlean  was  the  older  of  the  two  girls. 
What  Miss  Ankin  had  said  about  her  father  did  not 
sound  very  good  for  a  minister,  still  I  had  known 


TheConquest  197 

in  southern  Illinois  that  the  colored  ministers 
didn't  always  bear  the  best  reputations,  and  some  of 
the  colored  papers  I  received  in  Dakota  were  con 
tinually  making  war  on  the  immoral  ministers,  but 
since  I  had  come  to  see  the  girl  it  didn't  discourage 
me  when  I  learned  her  father  had  a  bad  name  al 
though  I  would  have  preferred  an  opposite  condition. 

I  went  to  the  phone  a  few  minutes  after  the  con 
versation  with  Miss  Ankin  and  called  up  Miss 
McCraline,  and  when  she  learned  I  was  in  the  city 
she  expressed  her  delight  with  many  exclamations, 
saying  she  did  not  know  I  would  arrive  in  the  city 
until  the  next  day  and  inquired  as  to  when  I  would 
call. 

"As  nothing  is  so  important  as  seeing  you,"  I 
answered.  "I  will  call  at  two  o'clock,  if  that  is 
agreeable  to  you." 

She  assured  me  that  it  was  and  at  the  appointed 
hour  I  called  at  the  McCraline  home  and  was 
pleasantly  received.  Miss  McCraline  called  in  her 
mother,  whom  I  thought  a  very  pleasant  lady.  We 
passed  a  very  agreeable  evening  together,  going 
over  on  State  street  to  supper  and  then  out  to 
Jackson  Park.  I  found  Miss  McCraline  a  kind, 
simple,  and  sympathetic  person;  in  fact,  agreeable 
in  every  way. 

I  had  grown  to  feel  that  if  I  ever  married  I  would 
simply  have  to  propose  to  some  girl  and  if  accepted, 
marry  her  and  have  it  over  with.  I  was  tired  of 
living  alone  on  the  claim  and  wanted  a  wife  and  love, 
even  if  she  was  a  city  girl.  I  felt  that  I  hadn't  the 
time  to  visit  all  over  the  country  to  find  a  farmer's 
daughter.  I  had  lived  in  the  city  and  thought  if 


198  The    Conquest 

I  married  a  city  girl  I  would  understand  her,  any 
way.  I  could  not  claim  to  be  in  love  with  this  girl, 
nor  with  anyone  else,  but  had  always  had  a  feeling 
that  if  a  man  and  woman  met  and  found  each  other 
pleasant  and  entertaining,  there  was  no  need  of  a 
long  courtship,  and  when  we  came  in  from  a  walk 
I  stated  the  object  of  my  trip. 

Miss  McCraline  was  acquainted  with  a  part  of 
the  story  for,  as  stated,  she  had  been  teaching  in 
M — boro  at  the  time  I  went  there  to  see  Miss  Rooks, 
and  had  seen  her  take  up  with  the  cook  and  marry 
foolishly.  She  had  stated  in  her  letters  that  she 
had  been  glad  that  I  wrote  to  her  and  that  she 
thought  Miss  Rooks  had  acted  foolishly,  and  when 
I  explained  my  circumstances  and  stated  the  pro 
position  she  seemed  favorable  to  it.  I  told  her  to 
think  it  over  and  I  would  return  the  next  day  and 
explain  it  to  her  mother. 

When  I  called  the  next  morning  and  talked  with 
her  and  her  mother,  they  both  thought  it  all  right 
that  Orlean  should  go  to  Dakota  and  file  on  the 
homestead,  then  we  would  marry  and  live  together 
on  the  claim,  but  her  mother  added  somewhat 
nervously  and  apparently  ill  at  ease,  that  I  had 
better  talk  with  her  husband.  As  the  Reverend 
was  then  some  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles 
south  of  Chicago  attending  conference,  I  couldn't  see 
how  we  could  get  together,  but  we  put  in  the  Sunday 
attending  church  and  Sunday  School,  and  that  even 
ing  went  to  a  downtown  theatre  where  we  saw 
Lew  Dokstader's  ministrels  with  Neil  O'Brien  as 
captain  of  the  fire  department,  which  was  very 
funny  and  I  laughed  until  my  head  ached. 


The    Conquest  199 

The  next  day  was  spent  in  trying  to  communicate 
with  the  Reverend  over  the  long  distance  but  we 
did  not  succeed.  Fortunately,  at  about  five  o'clock 
Mrs.  Ewis  came  over  from  the  west  side.  I  had 
known  Mrs.  Ewis  to  be  a  smart  woman  with  a 
deeper  conviction  than  had  Mrs.  McCraline,  whom 
she  did  not  like,  but  as  Mrs.  McCraline  was  in 
trouble  and  did  not  know  which  way  to  turn,  Mrs. 
Ewis  was  approached  with  the  subject.  Orlean 
was  an  obedient  girl  and  although  she  wanted  to 
go  with  me,  it  was  evident  that  I  must  get  the  con 
sent  of  her  parents.  She  was  nearly  twenty-seven 
years  old  and  girls  of  that  age  usually  wish  to  get 
married.  Her  younger  sister  had  just  been  married, 
which  added  to  her  feeling  of  loneliness.  The  result 
of  the  consultation  with  Mrs.  Ewis,  as  she  afterward 
explained  to  me,  was  that  it  was  decided  that  it 
would  not  be  proper  for  Orlean  to  go  alone  with 
me  but  if  I  cared  to  pay  her  way  she  would  accom 
pany  us  as  chaperon.  I  was  getting  somewhat  un 
easy  as  I  had  paid  twelve  hundred  dollars  into  the 
bank  at  Megory  for  the  relinquishment,  which  I 
would  lose  if  someone  didn't  file  on  the  claim  by  the 
second  of  October.  It  was  then  about  September 
twenty-fifth  and  I  readily  consented  to  incur  the 
expense  of  her  trip  to  Megory,  where  we  soon 
landed.  While  I  had  been  absent  my  sister  and 
grandmother  had  arrived.  On  October  first,  all  three 
were  ready  to  file  on  their  claims,  and  Dakota's 
colored  population  would  be  increased  by  three,  and 
four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land  would  be 
added  to  the  wealth  of  the  colored  race  in  the  state. 
Hundreds  of  others  had  purchased  relinquishments 


200  The    Conquest 

and  were  waiting  to  file  also.  A  ruling  of  the  de 
partment  had  made  it  impossible  to  file  before  Oc 
tober  first,  and  when  it  was  seen  that  only  a  small 
number  would  be  able  to  file  on  that  day,  the  register 
and  receiver  inaugurated  a  plan  whereby  all  de 
siring  to  file  on  Tipp  county  claims  should  form  a 
line  in  front  of  the  land  office  door,  and  when  the 
office  opened,  the  line  should  file  through  the  office 
in  the  order  in  which  they  stood,  and  numbers  would 
be  issued  to  them  which  would  permit  them  to 
return  to  the  land  office  and  make  their  filings  in 
turn,  thereby  avoiding  a  rush  and  the  necessity 
of  remaining  in  line  until  admitted  to  the  land  office 


The    Conquest  201 

CHAPTER  XXXII 

A  LONG  NIGHT 

EOPLE  began  forming  into  line  immed 
iately  after  luncheon,  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  last  day  of  September  and  con- 

__  tinued  throughout  the  afternoon.    When 

I  saw  such  a  crowd  gathering,  I  got  my  folks  into 
the  line.  When  it  is  taken  into  consideration  that 
the  land  office  would  not  open  until  nine  o'clock 
the  next  morning,  this  seemed  like  a  foolish  proceed 
ing.  It  was  then  four  o'clock  and  the  crowd  would 
have  to  remain  in  line  all  night  to  hold  their  places 
(to  be  exact,  just  seventeen  hours).  Remaining  in 
line  all  night  was  not  pleasantly  anticipated,  and 
nights  in  October  in  South  Dakota  are  apt  to  get 
pretty  chilly,  but  the  line  continued  to  increase 
and  by  ten  o'clock  the  street  in  front  of  the  land 
office  was  a  surging  mass  of  humanity,  mostly 
purchasers  of  relinquishments,  waiting  for  the  open 
ing  of  the  land  office  the  next  morning  and  to  be  in 
readiness  to  protect  the  claim  they  had  contracted 
for.  Hot  coffee  and  sandwiches  were  sold  and  kept 
appetites  supplied,  and  drunks  mixed  here  and  there 
in  the  line  kept  the  crowd  wakeful,  many  singing 
and  telling  stories  to  enliven  the  occasion.  I  held 
the  place  for  my  fiancee  through  the  night,  and  al 
though  I  had  become  used  to  all  kinds  of  roughness, 
sitting  up  in  the  street  all  the  long  night  was  far 
from  pleasant. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  squatters,  who 
had  spent  the  early  part  of  the  night  on  the  prairie 


202  The    Conquest 

in  order  to  be  on  their  claims  after  midnight,  began 
to  arrive  and  took  their  places  at  the  foot  of  the 
line.  All  land  not  filed  on  by  the  original  number 
holders  was  to  be  open  for  filing  as  soon  as  the  land 
office  opened,  and  squatters  had  from  midnight  until 
the  opening  of  the  land  office  in  which  to  beat  the 
man  who  waited  to  file,  before  locating  on  the  land, 
a  squatters  right  holding  first  in  such  cases.  Many 
had  hired  autos  to  bring  them  in  from  the  reserva 
tion  immediately  after  midnight,  or  as  soon  after 
midnight  as  they  had  made  some  crude  improve 
ments  on  the  land.  Many  auto  loads  arrived  with 
a  shout  and  claimants  leaped  from  the  tonneaus, 
falling  into  line  almost  before  the  vehicles  had 
stopped.  The  line  wound  back  and  forth  along  the 
street  like  a  snake  and  formed  into  a  compact  mass. 
Until  after  sunrise  the  noisy  autos  kept  a  steady 
rush,  dumping  their  weary  passengers  into  the  street. 

By  the  time  the  land  office  opened  in  the  morning, 
the  line  filled  the  street  for  half  a  block,  and  fully 
seventeen  hundred  persons  were  waiting  for  a  chance 
to  enter  the  land  office.  An  army  of  tired,  swollen- 
eyed  and  dusty  creatures  they  appeared,  some  of 
whom  commenced  dealing  their  positions  in  the  line 
to  late  comers,  having  gotten  into  line  for  specula 
tion  purposes  only,  and  offered  their  places  for  from 
ten  to  twenty-five  dollars,  and  in  a  few  instances 
places  near  the  door  sold  for  as  high  as  fifty  dollars. 

Under  a  ruling  of  the  land  officials,  no  filings  were 
to  be  accepted  except  from  holders  of  original 
numbers  until  October  first,  and  this  ruling  made  it 
expedient  for  holders  of  relinquishments  of  early 
numbers  to  get  into  line  early,  as  the  six  months 


The    Conquest  203 

allowed  for  establishing  residence  expired  for  the 
first  hundred  original  numbers  on  that  day,  and  in 
cases  where  residence  had  not  been  properly  es 
tablished,  the  land  would  be  open  to  contest  as  soon 
as  this  period  had  expired.  Many  hundreds  had 
purchased  relinquishments,  hence  the  value  placed 
on  the  positions  nearest  the  land-office  door.  It 
was  three  o'clock  by  the  time  the  line  had  passed 
through  the  land  office  and  received  their  numbers. 
The  land  office  closed  at  four  o'clock  for  the  day, 
which  left  but  one  hour  for  the  protection  of  those 
who  must  offer  their  filings  that  day  or  face  the 
chances  of  a  contest. 

Some  had  protected  their  claims  by  going  into 
the  land  office  before  the  ruling  was  made  and  filing 
contests  on  the  claims  for  which  they  held  relin 
quishments,  but  most  of  the  buyers  had  not  thought 
of  such  a  thing,  and  land  grafters  had  complicated 
matters  by  filing  contests  on  various  claims  for  which 
they  knew  relinquishments  would  be  offered  and 
then  withdrawing  the  contest,  for  a  consideration. 
This  practice  met  with  strong  disapproval  as  most 
of  the  people  had  invested  for  the  purpose  of  mak 
ing  homes,  and  the  laws  made  it  impossible  to  change 
the  circumstances.  These  transactions  had  to  be 
completed  before  the  line  formed,  however,  as  after 
the  line  formed  no  one  could  enter  the  land  office 
to  offer  either  filing,  relinquishment  or  contest, 
without  a  number  issued  by  the  officials.  The  line 
was  full  of  such  grafters,  and  as  not  more  than  one 
hundred  filings  could  be  taken  in  a  day,  it  can  readily 
be  seen  that  some  of  the  relinquishment  holders 
were  in  danger  of  losing  out  through,  a  contest 
offered  before  they  had  an  opportunity  to  file. 


204  The    Conquest 

The  crowds  that  flock  to  land  openings,  like  other 
games  of  chance,  are  made  up  in  a  measure  of 
speculators,  people  who  journey  to  one  of  the 
registration  points  and  make  application  for  land, 
figuring  that  if  they  should  draw  an  early  number 
(that  is,  in  the  first  five  hundred)  they  would  file, 
no  thought  of  making  a  home,  but  simply  to  sell 
the  relinquishment  for  the  largest  possible  price. 

When  the  filings  were  made,  about  sixty  had 
dropped  out  of  the  first  five  hundred  and  even  more 
out  of  the  second  five  hundred,  evidently  thinking 
they  were  not  likely  to  get  enough  for  the  relin 
quishment  to  pay  them  for  their  trouble  and  original 
investment,  since  it  cost  them  a  first  payment  of 
two  hundred  and  six  dollars  on  the  purchase  price 
of  six  dollars  per  acre  and  a  locating  fee  of  twenty- 
five  dollars,  and  in  some  cases  the  first  expense 
reached  three  hundred  dollars.  If  the  relinquish 
ment  was  not  sold  before  the  six  months  allowed 
for  establishing  residence  expired,  it  was  necessary 
to  establish  residence  making  sufficient  improve 
ment  for  that  purpose,  or  lose  the  money  invested. 

Out  of  the  first  four  thousand  numbers  some  two 
thousand  had  filed,  and  practically  half  of  this 
number  had  contracted  to  sell  their  relinquishments. 
The  buyers  had  deposited  the  amount  to  be  paid  in 
some  bank  to  the  credit  of  the  claimant,  to  be  turned 
over  when  the  purchaser  had  secured  filing  on  the 
land,  the  bank  acting  as  agent  between  the  parties 
to  the  transaction. 

I  shall  long  remember  October  1,  190 —  in  Me- 
gory — called  the  "  Magic  City,"  and  claiming  a 
population  of  three  thousand,  but  probably  not 


The    Conquest  205 

exceeding  one  thousand,  five  hundred  actual  in 
habitants,  though  filled  with  transients  from  the 
beginning  of  the  rush  a  year  before,  and  had  at  no 
time  during  this  period  less  than  two  thousand,  five 
hundred  persons  in  the  town. 

My  bride-to-be  and  my  grandmother  had  re 
ceived  numbers  138  and  139  which  would  likely 
be  called  to  file  the  second  day,  while  my  sister 
received  170.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  sec 
ond,  Orlean,  and  my  grandmother,  who  had 
raised  a  family  in  the  days  of  slavery,  and  was 
then  about  seventy-seven  years  of  age,  were  called, 
and  came  out  of  the  land  office  a  few  minutes  later 
with  their  blue  papers,  receipts  for  the  two  hundred 
six  dollars,  first  payment  and  fees,  which  I  had  given 
the  agent  before  they  entered  the  land  office.  Their 
agent  went  into  the  land  office  with  them  to  see 
that  they  got  a  straight  filing,  which  they  received. 
My  sister,  however,  was  not  called  that  day  and  the 
next  day  being  Sunday,  she  would  not  be  called  until 
the  following  Monday. 

The  place  my  grandmother  had  filed  on  had  been 
bought  by  a  Megory  school  teacher,  who  had  paid 
one  thousand,  four  hundred  dollars  to  a  real  estate 
dealer  for  the  relinquishment  of  the  same  place. 
The  claimant  had  issued  two  relinquishments,  which 
was  easy  enough  to  do,  though  the  relinquishment 
accompanied  by  his  land  office  receipt  was  the  only 
bona  fide  one  and  we  had  the  receipt.  The  teacher 
had  stood  in  line  the  long  night  through,  behind 
my  sister  and  then  lost  the  place.  The  dealer  who 
sold  her  the  relinquishment  was  very  angry,  as  he 
was  to  get  six  hundred  dollars  in  the  deal,  giving 


206  The    Conquest 

the  claimant  only  eight  hundred.  When  I  learned 
this  and  that  the  teacher  had  lost  out  I  was  very 
sorry  for  her,  but  it  was  a  case  of  "first  come  first 
served,"  and  many  other  mix-ups  between  buyers 
and  dealers  had  occurred.  I  went  to  the  teacher 
and  apologized  as  best  I  could.  She  looked  very 
pitiful  as  she  told  me  how  she  had  taught  so  many 
years  to  save  the  money  and  her  dreams  had  been 
of  nothing  but  securing  a  claim.  Her  eyes  filled 
with  tears  and  she  bent  her  head  and  began  crying, 
and  thus  I  left  her. 

The  next  morning  I  sent  Miss  McCraline  and 
Mrs.  Ewis  back  to  Chicago  and  proceeded  to  the 
claims  of  my  sister  and  grandmother,  which  I  found 
to  be  good  ones.  I  had  whirled  around  them  in  an 
auto  before  I  bought  them,  and  though  being  satisfied 
that  they  laid  well  I  had  not  examined  the  soil  or 
walked  across  them. 

In  a  week  I  had  two  frame  houses,  ten  by  ten,  built 
on  them  and  within  another  week  they  had  com 
menced  living  on  them.  Shortly  after  they  moved 
onto  the  claims  came  one  of  the  biggest  snowstorms 
I  had  ever  seen.  It  snowed  for  days  and  then  came 
warm  weather,  thawing  the  snow,  then  more  snow. 
The  corn  in  the  fields  had  not  been  gathered  nor 
was  it  all  gathered  before  the  following  April. 

Most  of  the  settlers  in  the  new  county  were  from 
twenty  to  fifty  miles  from  Calias  and  winter  caught 
many  of  them  without  fuel,  and  the  suffering  from 
cold  was  intense.  The  snow  continued  to  fall 
until  it  was  about  four  feet  deep  on  the  level. 
Fortunately  I  had  hauled  enough  coal  to  last  my 
folks  through  the  winter,  and  they  had  only  to 


TheConquest  207 

get  to  Kitten,  a  distance  of  eight  miles,  to  get  food. 
I  had  just  gathered  two  loads  out  of  a  ninety-acre 
field.  Being  snowbound,  with  nothing  to  do,  I 
watched  the  fight  between  Amro  and  Victor,  with 
interest. 


208  TJie    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXXIII 

THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

TER  the  lot  sale  Amro  still  refused 
to  move.  It  was  then  Ernest  Nicholson 
said  the  town  had  to  be  overcome  some 
how  and  he  had  to  do  it.  The  business 
men  of  the  town  continued  to  hold  meetings  and  pass 
resolutions  to  stick  together.  They  argued  that  all 
they  had  to  do  to  save  the  town  was  to  stick  together. 
This  was  the  slogan  of  each  meeting.  The  county  seat 
no  doubt  held  them  more  than  the  meetings,  but 
it  was  not  long  before  signs  of  weakening  began  to 
appear  here  and  there  along  the  ranks. 

Victor  to  the  north,  in  the  opinion  of  the  people 
abroad,  would  get  the  road;  lots  were  being  bought 
up  and  business  people  from  elsewhere  were  con 
tinuing  to  locate  and  erect  substantial  buildings 
in  the  new  town,  and  then  it  was  reported  that  Geo. 
Roane,  who  had  recently  sold  his  livery  barn  in 
Amro  where  he  had  made  a  bunch  of  money,  had 
bought  five  lots  in  Victor,  paying  fancy  prices  for 
them  but  getting  a  refund  of  fifty  per  cent  if  he 
moved  or  started  his  residence  hotel  by  January  first. 
This  report  could  not  be  confirmed  as  Roane  could 
not  be  found,  but  soon  conflicting  reports  filled  the 
air  and  old  Dad  Burpee,  who  loved  his  corner  lot 
in  Amro  like  a  hog  loves  corn,  made  daily  trips  up 
and  down  Main  street,  railing  the  boys.  The  more 
he  talked  the  more  excited  he  became.  "My  good 
men!"  he  would  shout,  with  his  arms  stretched 
above  his  head  like  Billy  Sunday  after  preaching 


The    Conquest  209 

awhile.  "Stick  together!  Stick  together!  We've 
got  the  best  town  in  the  best  county,  in  the  best 
state  in  the  best  country  in  the  world.  What  more 
do  you  want?"  He  would  fairly  rave,  with  his 
old  eyes  stretched  widely  open,  and  his  shaggy 
beard  flowing  in  the  breeze.  He  continued  this 
until  he  bored  the  people  and  weakened  the  already 
weakening  forces. 

There  were  many  good  business  men  in  Amro, 
among  them  young  men  of  sterling  qualities,  college- 
bred,  ambitious  and  with  dreams  of  great  success 
and  of  establishing  themselves  securely.  Many  of 
them  had  sweethearts  in  the  east,  and  desired 
to  make  a  showing  and  profit  as  well,  and  how 
were  they  to  do  this  in  a  town  in  which  even  out 
siders,  though  they  might  not  admire  the  Nicholsons, 
were  predicting  failure  for  those  who  remained,  and 
declaring  they  were  foolish  to  stay.  This  young 
blood  was  getting  hard  to  control,  and  to  hold  them 
something  more  had  to  be  done  than  declaring 
Ernest  Nicholson  to  be  trying  to  wreck  the  town 
and  break  up  their  homes.  Poor  fools — I  would 
think,  as  I  listened  to  them,  talking  as  though 
Ernest  Nicholson  had  anything  to  do  with  the  rail 
road  missing  the  town.  It  was  simply  the  mistaken 
location. 

It  had  been  an  easy  matter  for  the  promoters, 
whose  capital  was  mostly  in  the  air,  to  locate  Amro 
on  the  allotment  of  Oliver  Amoureaux,  because 
they  could  do  so  without  paying  anything,  and  did 
not  have  to  pay  fifty-five  dollars  an  acre  for  deeded 
land  as  Nicholson  had  done.  Being  centrally 
located  and  with  enough  buildings  to  encourage 

14 


210  The    Conquest 

the  building  of  more,  they  induced  the  governor 
to  organize  the  county  when  few  but  illiterate 
Indians  and  thieving  mixed-bloods  could  vote, 
fairly  stealing  the  county  seat  before  the  bona-fide 
settlers  had  any  chance  to  express  themselves  on 
the  matter.  They  had  doggedly  invested  more 
money  in  cement  walks  and  other  improvements, 
when  disinterested  persons  had  criticized  their 
actions,  loading  the  township  with  eleven  thousand 
dollars,  seven  per  cent  interest  bearing  bonds,  that 
sold  at  a  big  discount,  to  build  a  school  house  large 
enough  for  a  town  three  times  the  size  of  Amro. 
This  angered  the  settlers  and  being  dissatisfied  be 
cause  they  were  disfranchised  by  the  rascals  who  en 
gineered  the  plan,  Amro  began  rapidly  to  lose  outside 
sympathy. 

Ernest  Nicholson  had  a  pleasing  personality  and 
forceful  as  well.  He  was  a  king  at  reasoning  and 
whenever  a  weak  Amorite  was  in  Calias  he  was  in 
vited  into  the  townsite  company's  office  which  was 
luxuriously  furnished,  the  walls  profusely  decorated 
with  the  pictures  of  prominent  capitalists  and 
financiers  of  the  middle  west,  some  of  whom  were 
financing  the  schemes  of  the  fine  looking  young 
men  who  were  trying  to  show  these  struggling 
waifs  of  the  prairie  the  inevitable  result. 

All  that  was  needed  was  to  break  into  the  town 
in  some  way  or  other,  for  it  was  essential  that  Amro 
be  absorbed  by  Victor  before  the  election,  ten  months 
away.  The  town  should  be  entirely  broken  up. 
If  it  still  existed,  with  or  without  the  road,  it  had 
a  good  chance  of  holding  the  county  seat.  A  county 
seat  is  a  very  hard  thing  to  move.  In  fact,  accord- 


The    Conquest  211 

ing  to  the  records  of  western  states,  few  county  seats 
have  ever  been  moved. 

Megory's  county  seat  was  located  forty  miles 
from  Megory,  in  the  extreme  east  end  of  the  county, 
where  the  county  ran  to  a  point  and  the  river  on 
the  north  and  the  south  boundary  of  the  county 
formed  an  acute  angle;  yet  the  county  seat  remains 
at  Fairview  and  the  voters  keep  it  there,  where  no 
one  but  a  handful  of  farmers  and  the  few  hundred 
inhabitants  of  the  town  reside.  When  trying  to 
remove  the  county  seat  every  town  in  the  county 
jumps  into  the  race,  persisting  in  the  contention 
that  their  town  is  the  proper  place  for  the  county 
seat  and  when  election  comes,  the  farmers  who 
represent  from  sixty-five  to  ninety  per  cent  of  the 
vote  in  states  like  Dakota,  vote  for  the  town  nearest 
their  farm,  thinking  only  of  their  own  selfish  in 
terests  and  forgetting  the  county's  welfare,  as  the 
victor  must  have  a  majority  of  all  votes  cast. 
Another  example  of  this  condition  is  near  where  this 
story  is  written,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Missouri. 
It  is  a  place  called  Keeler,  the  most  God -forsaken 
place  in  the  world,  with  only  three  or  four  ramshackle 
buildings  and  a  post  office,  with  little  or  no  country 
trade,  yet  this  is  a  county  seat,  the  capital  of  one 
of  the  leading  counties  of  the  state;  while  half  a 
dozen  good  towns  along  the  line  of  the  C.  M.  &  St. 
L.  road,  cart  their  records  and  hold  court  in  Keeler, 
twenty  miles  from  the  railroad.  Every  four  years 
for  thirty  years  the  county  seat  has  been  elected 
to  stay  at  Keeler,  as  no  town  can  get  a  majority 
of  all  votes  cast  against  Keeler,  which  doesn't  even 
enter  the  race. 


212  The    Conquest 

All  of  these  facts  had  their  bearing  on  Ernest 
Nicholson  in  his  office  at  Calias,  and  had  helped 
to  hold  Amro  together,  until  Van  Neter  was  called 
into  Calias  and  into  the  private  office  of  "King 
Ernest"  as  Amro  had  named  him.  What  passed 
in  that  office  at  this  interview  is  a  matter  of  con 
jecture,  but  when  Van  Neter  came  out  of  the  office 
he  carried  a  check  for  seven  thousand,  five  hundred 
dollars  and  Ernest  Nicholson  became  the  owner 
of  the  two-story,  fifty  by  one  hundred  foot  hotel  and 
lot,  Amro's  most  popular  corner.  When  this  news 
reached  Amro  pandemonium  reigned,  business  men 
passed  from  one  place  of  business  to  another  talking 
in  low  tones,  and  shaking  their  heads  significantly, 
while  old  Dad  Burpee,  nearer  maniac  than  ever 
before,  went  the  rounds  of  the  town  shouting  in 
a  high  staccato  tone:  "What  do  you  think  of  it? 
What  do  you  think  of  the  ornery,  low-down  rascal's 
selling  out.  Selling  out  to  that  band  of  dirty 
thieves  and  town  wreckers.  By  the  living  gods!" 
With  his  arms  folded  like  a  tragedian,  eyes  rolled 
to  the  skies  and  his  form  reared  back  until  his  knees 
stuck  forward,  then  raising  his  hand  he  solemnly 
swore:  "I'll  stay  in  Amro!  I'll  stay  in  Amro! 
I'll  stay  in  Amro,"  until  his  voice  rose  to  a  hoarse 
scream.  "I'll  stay  in  Amro  until  the  town  is  de 
serted  to  the  last  d — n  building  and  the  last  dog 
is  dead."  And  he  did,  though  I  cannot  say  as  to 
the  last  dog. 

Nicholson  had  the  hotel  closed  and  although  the 
snow  was  more  than  knee-deep  on  the  level,  a  force 
of  carpenters  at  once  began  cutting  the  building  in 
two,  preparatory  to  moving  it  to  the  new  town. 


The    Conquest  213 

Old  Machalacy  Finn,  a  one-armed,  hatchet-faced 
Irishman,  with  a  long  sandy  mustache  and  pop- 
eyes,  who  had  moved  brick  buildings  in  the  windy 
city,  was  sent  to  Amro  and  declared  in  Joe  Cook's 
saloon  that  he'd  put  that  damned  crackerbox  in 
Victor  in  fifteen  days,  and  armed  with  a  force  of 
carpenters  and  laborers,  the  plaster  was  soon  knocked 
off  the  walls  of  the  largest  and  best  building  in 
Amro  and  thrown  into  the  streets;  while  the  new 
cement  walks,  only  fifty  feet  in  front  and  one  hun 
dred  by  eight  at  the  side,  were  broken  into  slabs  and 
piled  roughly  aside,  then  huge  timbers  twenty-four 
by  thirty-two  inches  and  sixty  feet  long,  from  the 
redwood  forests  of  Washington,  followed  the  jack- 
screws  and  blocks  under  the  building.  Two 
sixty-horse  power  mounted  tractors,  with  double 
boilers  and  horse  power  locomotive  construction, 
low  wheels  and  high  cabs,  where  the  engineer 
perched  like  a  bird,  steamed  into  the  town  and 
prepared  to  pull  the  structure  from  its  foundations. 

The  crowd  gathered  to  watch  as  the  powerful 
engines  began  to  cough  and  roar,  with  an  occasional 
short  puff,  like  fast  passenger  engines  on  the  New 
York  Central,  the  power  being  sufficient  to  tear 
the  building  to  splinters.  Creaking  in  every  joint, 
the  hotel  building  began  slowly  moving  out  into 
the  street. 

The  telephone  wires,  which  belonged  to  the 
Nicholsons,  had  been  cut  and  thrown  aside  and  the 
town  was  temporarily  without  telephonic  communi 
cation.  The  powerful  engines  easily  pulled  the 
hotel  between  banks  of  snow,  which  had  been 
shoveled  aside  to  make  room  for  the  passing  of  the 


214  The    Conquest 

building  across  the  grades  and  ditches  and  on  toward 
Victor.  A  block  and  tackle  was  used  whenever  the 
building  became  stuck  fast  and  in  a  few  days  the 
hotel  was  serving  the  public  on  a  corner  lot  in 
Victor,  where  it  added  materially  to  the  appearance 
of  the  town. 

Following  in  the  footsteps  of  old  Calias,  the  town, 
now  being  broken  by  the  removal  of  the  hotel,  the 
dark  cellar  over  which  it  stood  gaping  like  an  open 
grave,  to  be  gazed  into  at  every  turn,  became  of 
small  consequence,  and  in  Victor  the  price  of  corner 
lots  had  advanced  from  one  thousand,  five 
hundred  to  two  thousand  and  three  thousand 
dollars,  while  inside  lots  were  being  offered 
at  from  one  thousand,  two  hundred  to  one 
thousand,  eight  hundred  dollars  which  had  formerly 
priced  from  eight  hundred  to  one  thousand,  two 
hundred  dollars.  This  did  not  discourage  those 
who  wanted  to  move  to  the  new  town.  All  that 
was  desired  by  former  rock-ribbed  Amroites  was 
to  get  to  Victor.  They  talked  nothing  but  Victor. 
The  name  of  Amro  was  almost  forgotten. 

Before  the  hotel  building  had  fairly  left  the  town, 
other  traction  engines  were  brought  to  the  town. 
The  snow  was  a  great  hindrance  and  to  get  coal 
hauled  from  Calias  cost  seventy-five  cents  a  hundred. 
Labor  and  board  was  high,  and  in  fact  all  prices 
for  everything  were  very  high.  It  was  in  the  middle 
of  one  of  the  cold  winters  of  the  plains,  but  money 
had  been  made  in  Amro  and  was  offered  freely  in 
payment  for  moving  to  the  new  town.  It  was 
bitter  cold  and  the  snow  was  light  and  drifting, 
the  ground  frozen  under  the  snow  two  feet  deep, 


The    Conquest  215 

but  the  frozen  ground  would  hold  up  the  buildings 
better  than  it  would  when  the  warm  weather  came 
and  started  a  thaw.  The  soil  being  underlaid  with 
sand  it  would  be  impossible  to  move  buildings  over 
it,  if  rain  should  come,  as  it  would  be  likely  to  do  in 
the  spring,  and  with  the  melted  snow  to  hinder,  it 
would  then  be  very  difficult  to  move  the  buildings. 
It  was  small  wonder  that  they  were  anxious  to  get 
away  from  the  disrupted  town  at  this  time,  and  the 
road  between  Amro  and  Victor  became  a  much 
used  thoroughfare. 

The  traction  engines  pounding  from  early  morn 
ing  until  late  at  night  filled  the  air  with  a  noise  as 
of  railroad  yards,  while  the  happy  faces  of  the  owners 
of  the  buildings  arriving  in  Victor,  and  the  anxious 
ones  waiting  to  be  moved,  gave  material  for  interest 
ing  study  of  human  nature. 

George  Roane  had  built  a  new  barn  in  Victor  and 
was  much  pleased  over  having  sold  the  old  one  in 
Amro  before  the  town  went  to  pieces,  thereby  saving 
the  expense  of  removal  and  getting  a  refund  of 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  purchase  price  of  the  lots  he 
purchased  in  Victor.  Many  buildings  continued 
to  arrive  from  Amro,  and  new  ones  being  erected 
did  credit  to  (the  name  of  the  new  town  by  growing 
faster  than  any  of  the  towns  on  the  reservation, 
including  Calias  or  Megory. 


216  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XXXIV 

EAST  OF  STATE  STREET 

HAD  in  due  time  heard  from  Orlean  say 
ing  she  and  Mrs.  Ewis  had  arrived  safely 
home.  She  wrote:  "When  I  came  into 

the  house  mama  grabbed  me  and  held 

me  for  a  long  time  as  though  she  was  afraid  I  was 
not  real.  She  had  been  so  worried  while  I  was 
away  and  was  so  glad  I  had  returned  before  father 
came."  They  had  received  a  telegram  from  her 
father  saying  that  he  had  again  been  appointed 
presiding  elder  of  the  Cairo  district  and  would  be 
home  within  a  few  days. 

I  judged  from  what  Mrs.  Ewis  had  told  me  that 
the  Reverend  was  not  much  of  a  business  man  and 
a  hard  one  to  make  understand  a  business  proposi 
tion  or  to  reason  with.  He  had  only  two  children, 
and  Orlean,  as  Mrs.  Ewis  informed  me,  was  his 
favorite.  She  had  always  been  an  obedient  girl, 
was  graduated  from  the  Chicago  high  school  and 
spent  two  years  at  a  colored  boarding  school  in  Ohio 
that  was  kept  up  by  the  African  M.  E.  Church,  had 
taught  two  years,  but  had  not  secured  a  school  that 
year. 

She  had  saved  a  hundred  dollars  out  of  the  money 
she  had  earned  teaching  school.  The  young  man 
who  married  her  sister  worked  for  a  trading-stamp 
corporation  and  received  thirteen  dollars  a  week, 
while  the  Reverend  was  supposed  to  receive  about 
a  thousand  dollars  a  year  as  presiding  elder.  There 
were  some  twelve  or  fifteen  churches  on  his  circuit, 


The    Conquest  217 

where  quarterly  conference  was  held  every  three 
months,  and  each  church  was  expected  to  contribute 
a  certain  amount  at  that  time.  Each  member  was 
supposed  to  give  twenty-five  cents,  which  they  did 
not  always  do. 

In  a  town  like  M — boro,  for  instance,  where  the 
church  had  one  hundred  members,  not  over  twenty- 
five  are  considered  live  members;  that  is,  only 
twenty-five  could  be  depended  upon  to  pay  their 
quarterly  dues  regularly,  the  others  being  spas 
modic,  contributing  freely  at  times  or  nothing  at 
all  for  a  long  time. 

Orlean  often  laughed  as  she  told  me  some  of  the 
many  ways  her  father  had  of  making  the  "dead 
ones"  contribute,  but  with  all  the  tricks  and  turns 
the  position  was  not  a  lucrative  one,  there  being 
no  certainty  as  to  the  amount  of  the  compensation. 
Mrs.  Ewis  told  me  the  family  had  always  been  poor 
and  got  along  only  by  saving  in  every  direction. 
I  could  see  this  as  Orlean  seemed  to  have  few  clothes 
and  had  worn  her  sister's  hat  to  Dakota. 

Her  sister  was  said  to  be  very  mean  and  dis 
agreeable,  and  if  anyone  in  the  family  had  to  do 
without  anything  it  was  never  the  sister.  She  was 
quarrelsome  and  much  disliked  while  Orlean  was 
the  opposite  and  would  cheerfully  deprive  herself 
of  anything  necessary.  Her  mother,  Mrs.  Ewis 
went  on  to  tell  me,  was  a  "devil,  spiteful  and  mean 
and  as  helpless  as  a  baby."  I  believed  a  part  of 
this  but  not  all.  I  had  listened  to  Mrs.  McCraline, 
and  while  I  felt  she  was  somewhat  on  the  helpless 
order,  I  did  not  believe  she  was  mean,  nor  a  "devil." 
Meanness  and  deviltry  are  usually  discernible  in 


218  The    Conquest 

the  eyes  and  I  had  seen  none  of  it  in  the  eyes  of 
either  Mrs.  McCraline  or  Orlean,  but  I  did  not  like 
Ethel,  and  from  what  little  Miss  Ankin  told  me  about 
the  Reverend  I  was  inclined  to  believe  that  he  was 
likely  to  be  the  "devil,"  and  Mrs.  Ewis'  information 
regarding  Mrs.  McCraline  was  probably  inspired 
by  jealousy. 

I  remembered  that  back  in  M — pis  the  preachers' 
wives  were  timid  creatures,  submissive  to  any  order 
or  condition  their  "elder"  husbands  put  upon  them, 
submitting  too  much  in  order  to  keep  peace,  never 
raising  a  row  over  the  gossip  that  came  to  their 
ears  from  malicious  "sisters"  and  church  workers. 
As  long  as  I  could  remember  the  colored  ministers 
were  accused  of  many  ugly  things  concerning  them 
and  the  "sisters,"  mostly  women  who  worked  in 
the  church,  but  I  had  forgotten  it  until  I  now  began 
hearing  the  gossip  concerning  Rev.  McCraline. 

Orlean,  her  father  and  her  brother-in-law  had 
begun  buying  a  home  on  Vernon  avenue  for  which 
they  were  to  pay  four  thousand,  five  hundred  dollars. 
Of  this  amount  three  hundred  dollars  had  been  paid, 
one  hundred  by  each  of  them.  It  was  a  nice  little 
place,  with  eight  rooms  and  with  a  stone  front. 
Ethel  had  not  paid  anything,  using  her  money  in 
preparation  for  her  wedding,  which  had  taken  place 
in  September.  Claves  and  her  father  had  spent 
two  hundred  on  it,  which  seemed  very  foolish,  and 
were  pinched  to  the  last  cent  when  it  was  done. 

Claves  had  borrowed  five  dollars  from  his  brother 
when  they  went  on  the  wedding  trip,  to  pay  for  a 
taxi  to  the  depot.  The  wedding  tour  and  honey 
moon  lasted  two  weeks  and  was  spent  in  Racine, 


The    Conquest  219 

Wisconsin,  sixty  miles  north  of  Chicago.  They 
had  just  returned  when  I  went  to  Chicago.  When 
I  first  called,  Mrs.  Claves  did  not  come  down  but 
when  we  returned  to  the  house  she  condescended 
to  come  down  and  shake  hands.  She  put  on  enough 
airs  to  have  been  a  king's  daughter. 

With  the  three  hundred  dollars  already  paid  on 
the  home,  they  figured  they  should  be  able  to  pay 
for  it  in  seven  years  in  monthly  installments  of 
thirty-five  dollars,  paying  the  interest  upon  the 
principal  at  the  same  time,  excepting  two  thousand 
which  was  in  a  first  mortgage  and  drew  five  per  cent 
and  payable  semi-annually.  The  house  was  in  a 
quiet  neighborhood  much  unlike  the  south  end  of 
Dearborn  street  and  Armour  avenue  where  none 
but  colored  people  live. 

The  better  class  of  Chicago's  colored  population 
was  making  a  strenuous  effort  to  get  away  from  the 
rougher  set,  as  well  as  to  get  out  of  the  black  belt 
which  is  centered  around  Armour,  Dearborn,  State 
and  Thirty-first.  Here  the  saloons,  barbershops, 
restaurants  and  vaudeville  shows  are  run  by  colored 
people,  also  the  clubs  and  dance  houses.  East  from 
State  street  to  the  lake,  which  is  referred  to  by  the 
colored  people  of  the  city  as  "east  of  State/'  there 
is  another  and  altogether  different  class.  Here  for 
a  long  while  colored  people  could  hardly  rent  or 
buy  a  place,  then  as  the  white  population  drifted 
farther  south,  to  Greenwood  avenue,  Hyde  Park, 
Kenwood  and  other  parts  now  fashionable  districts, 
some  of  the  avenues  including  Wabash,  Rhodes, 
Calumet,  Vernon  and  Indiana  began  renting  to 
colored  people  and  a  few  began  buying. 


220  The    Conquest 

Chicago  is  the  Mecca  for  southern  negroes.  The 
better  class  continued  to  desert  Dearborn  and  Ar 
mour  and  paid  exorbitant  rent  for  flats  east  of  State 
street.  Some  lost  what  they  had  made  on  Armour 
avenue  where  rent  was  sometimes  less  than  one-half 
what  was  charged  five  blocks  east,  and  had  to  move 
back  to  Armour.  As  more  colored  people  moved 
toward  the  lake  more  white  people  moved  farther 
south,  rent  began  falling  and  real  estate  dealers 
began  offering  former  homes  of  rich  families  first 
for  rent  then  for  sale,  and  many  others  began  buying 
as  Rev.  McCraline  had  done,  making  a  small  cash 
payment,  and  in  this  way  otherwise  unsalable 
property  was  disposed  of  at  from  five  to  ten  per  cent 
more  than  it  would  have  brought  at  a  cash  sale. 

The  place  they  were  buying  could  have  been  pur 
chased  for  three  thousand,  eight  hundred  dollars  or 
four  thousand  dollars  in  cash.  After  moving  east 
of  State  street,  these  people  formed  into  little  sets 
which  represented  the  more  elite,  and  later  de 
veloped  into  a  sort  of  local  aristocracy,  which  was 
not  distinguished  so  much  by  wealth  as  by  the  airs 
and  conventionality  of  its  members,  who  did  not 
go  to  public  dances  on  State  street  and  drink  "can" 
beer.  Here  for  a  time  they  were  secure  from  the 
vulgar  intrusion  of  the  noisy  "loud-mouths,"  as 
they  called  them,  of  State  street.  The  last  time  I 
was  in  Chicago  State  street,  the  "dead  line,  "had 
been  crossed  and  a  part  of  Wabash  avenue  is  almost 
as  noisy  and  vulgar  as  Dearborn.  Beer  cans, 
rough  clubs  and  dudes  were  becoming  as  familiar 
sights  as  on  Armour,  and  a  large  part  of  that  part 
of  the  east  side  is  so  filled  up  with  colored  people 


The    Conquest  221 

that  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  until  it  will  be  a 
part  of  the  black  belt. 

Orlean's  brother-in-law  had  come  to  Chicago 
several  years  previous  from  a  stumpy  farm  in  the 
backwoods  of  Tennessee.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
jack-legged  preacher  and  was  very  ignorant,  but 
had  been  going  with  the  girl  he  married  some  six 
years  and  she  had  trained  him  out  of  much  of  it 
and  when  he  finally  figured  in  the  two  hundred 
dollar  wedding  referred  to,  he  felt  himself  admitted 
into  society  and  highly  exalted.  He  thought  the 
Reverend  a  great  man,  Mrs.  Ewis  had  told  me,  re 
ferring  to  him  as  a  Simian-headed  negro  who  tried 
to  walk  and  act  like  the  Reverend.  The 
McCralines,  especially  Ethel,  referred  to  themselves 
as  the  "best  people."  I  thought  they  were.  They 
were  not  wicked,  and  I  also  guessed  that  Ethel  felt 
very  "aristocratic,"  and  I  wondered  whether  I 
would  like  the  Reverend.  He  seemed  to  be  regarded 
as  a  sort  of  monarch  judging  from  the  way  he  was 
spoken  of  by  the  family,  but  I  had  a  "hunch"  that 
he  and  I  were  not  going  to  fall  in  love  with  each 
other.  Still  I  hoped  not  to  be  the  one  to  start  any 
unpleasantness  and  would  at  least  wait  until  I  met 
him  before  forming  an  opinion.  I  received  a  letter 
from  him  when  he  returned  from  the  conference. 
He  did  not  write  a  very  brilliant  letter  but  was 
very  reasonable,  and  tried  to  appear  a  little  serious 
when  he  referred  to  my  having  his  daughter  come 
to  South  Dakota  and  file  on  land.  He  concluded 
by  saying  he  thought  it  a  good  thing  for  colored 
people  to  go  west  and  take  land. 

I  received  another  letter  from  Orlean  about  the 


222  The    Conquest 

same  time  telling  me  how  her  father  had  scolded  her 
about  going  to  the  theatre  with  me  the  Sunday 
night  I  had  taken  her,  and  pretended,  as  he  had  to 
me,  to  be  very  serious  about  the  claim  matter,  but 
she  wrote  like  this:  "I  know  papa,  and  I  could  see 
he  was  just  pleased  over  it  all  that  he  just  strutted 
around  like  a  rooster/'  She  wanted  to  know  when 
I  was  going  to  send  the  ring,  but  as  I  had  not  thought 
about  it  I  do  not  recall  what  answer  I  made  her,  but 
do  remember  that  my  trip  to  get  her  and  Mrs.  Ewis 
and  send  them  home  again,  including  my  own 
expenses,  amounted  to  one  hundred  sixty  dollars, 
besides  the  cost  of  the  land,  and  having  had  to  pay 
my  sister's  and  grandmother's  way  also  and  get 
them  started  on  their  homesteads  had  taken  all 
of  the  seven  thousand,  six  hundred  dollars  I  had 
borrowed  on  my  land;  that  I  was  snow-bound  with 
my  corn  in  the  field  and  my  wheat  still  un threshed. 
I  began  to  write  long  letters  trying  to  reason  this 
out  with  her.  She  was  willing  to  listen  to  reason 
but  seemed  so  unhappy  without  the  ring,  and  I 
imagined  as  I  read  her  letters  that  I  could  see  tears. 
She  said  when  a  girl  is  engaged  she  feels  lost  without 
a  ring,  "and,  too,"  here  she  seemed  to  emphasize 
her  words,  "everybody  expects  it."  I  was  sure 
she  was  telling  the  truth,  for  with  girls  "east  of 
State  street,"  and  west  as  well,  the  most  important 
thing  in  an  engagement  is  the  ring,  sometimes  being 
more  important  than  the  man  himself. 

When  I  lived  in  Chicago  and  since  I  had  been 
living  in  Dakota  and  going  to  Chicago  once  a  year, 
I  knew  that  Loftis  Brothers  had  more  mortgages 
on  the  moral  future  and  jobs  of  the  young  society 


The    Conquest  223 

men,  for  the  diamonds  worn  by  their  sweethearts 
or  wives,  than  would  appear  comforting  to  the 
credit  man.  It  made  no  difference  what  kind  of 
a  job  a  man  might  have,  as  all  the  way  from  a  boot 
black  or  a  janitor  to  head  waiters  and  post-office 
clerks  were  included,  and  their  women  folks  wore 
some  size  of  a  diamond.  I  asked  myself  what  I  was 
to  do.  I  could  not  hope  to  begin  changing  customs, 
so  I  bought  a  forty  dollar  diamond  set  in  a  small 
eigh teen-karat  ring  which  "just  fit,"  as  she  wrote 
later  in  the  sweetest  kind  of  a  letter. 

I  had  written  I  was  sorry  that  I  could  not  be 
there  to  put  it  on  (such  a  story!).  I  had  never 
thought  of  diamond  rings  or  going  after  my  wife 
after  spending  so  much  on  preliminaries.  What  I 
had  pictured  was  what  I  had  seen,  while  running 
to  the  Pacific  coast,  girls  going  west  to  marry  their 
pioneer  sweethearts,  who  sent  them  the  money  or 
a  ticket.  They  had  gone,  lots  of  them,  to  marry 
their  brawny  beaux  and  lived  happily  "ever  after/' 
but  the  beaux  weren't  negroes  nor  the  girls  colored. 
Still  there  are  lots  of  colored  men  who  would  be 
out  west  building  an  empire,  and  plenty  of  nice 
colored  girls  who  would  journey  thither  and  wed,  if 
they  really  understood  the  opportunities  offered;  but 
very  few  understand  the  situation  or  realize  the 
opportunities  open  to  them  in  this  western  country. 

I  had  expected  to  get  married  Christmas  but  the 
snow  had  put  a  stop  to  that  plan.  Besides,  I  was 
so  far  behind  in  my  work  and  had  no  place  to  bring 
my  wife.  I  had  abandoned  my  little  "soddy" 
and  was  living  in  a  house  on  the  old  townsite,  where 
I  intended  staying  until  spring.  Then  I  would 


224  The    Conquest 

build  and  move  onto  my  wife's  homestead  in  Tipp 
county.  When  Christmas  came  grandma  and  sister 
came  down  from  Kitten  and  stayed  while  I  went  to 
Chicago.  I  could  scarcely  afford  it  but  it  had  be 
come  a  custom  for  me  to  spend  Christmas  in  Chicago 
and  I  wanted  to  know  Orlean  better  and  I  wanted 
to  meet  her  father.  I  had  written  her  that  I  wasn't 
coming  and  when  I  arrived  in  the  city  and  called 
at  the  house  her  mother  was  surprised,  but  pleas 
antly.  I  thought  she  was  such  a  kind  little  soul. 
She  promised  not  to  tell  Orlean  I  was  in  the  city, 
(Orlean  had  secured  a  position  in  a  downtown  store — 
ladies'  furnishings — and  received  five-fifty  per  week) 
but  couldn't  keep  it  and  when  I  was  gone  she  called 
up  Orlean  and  told  her  I  was  in  the  city.  When 
I  called  in  the  evening,  instead  of  surprising  Orlean, 
I  was  surprised  myself.  The  Reverend  hadn't 
arrived  from  southern  Illinois  but  was  expected 
soon. 

Orlean  had  worked  long  enough  to  buy  herself 
a  new  waist  and  coat,  and  Mrs.  Ewis,  who  was  a 
milliner,  had  given  her  a  hat,  and  she  was  dressed 
somewhat  better  than  formerly.  The  family  had 
wanted  to  give  her  a  nice  wedding,  like  Ethel's, 
but  found  themselves  unable  to  do  so.  The  semi 
annual  interest  on  their  two-thousand-dollar  loan 
would  be  due  in  January  and  a  payment  also,  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  all.  The  high 
cost  of  living  in  Chicago  did  not  leave  much  out  of 
eighteen  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  week,  and  colored 
people  in  southern  Illinois  are  not  very  prompt 
in  paying  their  church  dues,  especially  in  mid 
winter;  in  fact,  many  of  them  have  a  hard  time 


I 


The    Conquest  225 

keeping  away  from  the  poorhouse  or  off  the  county, 
and  when  the  Reverend  came  home  he  was  very 
short  of  money. 

I  remember  how  he  appeared  the  evening  I 
called.  He  had  arrived  in  town  that  morning. 
He  was  a  large  man  standing  well  over  six  feet  and 
weighed  about  two  hundred  pounds,  small-boned 
and  fleshy,  which  gave  him  a  round,  plump  appear 
ance,  and  although  he  was  then  near  sixty  not  a 
wrinkle  was  visible  in  his  face.  He  was  very  dark, 
with  a  medium  forehead  and  high-bridged  nose, 
making  it  possible  for  him  to  wear  nose-glasses,  the 
nose  being  very  unlike  the  flat-nosed  negro.  The 
large  square  upper-lip  was  partly  hidden  by  a 
mustache  sprinkled  with  gray,  and  his  nearly  white 
hair,  worn  in  a  massive  pompadour,  contrasted 
sharply  with  the  dark  skin  and  rounded  features. 
His  great  height  gave  him  an  unusually  attractive 
appearance  of  which  he,  I  later  learned,  was  well 
aware  and  made  the  most.  In  fact,  his  personal 
appearance  was  his  pride,  but  his  eye  was  not  the 
eye  of  an  intelligent  or  deep  thinking  man.  They 
reminded  me  more  of  the  eyes  of  a  pig,  full  but 
expressionless,  and  he  could  put  on  airs,  such  a 
drawing-up  and  spreading-out,  seeming  to  give 
the  impression  of  being  hard  to  approach. 

When  introduced  to  him  I  had  another  "hunch" 
we  were  not  going  to  like  each  other.  I  was  always 
frank,  forward  and  unafraid,  and  his  ceremonious 
manner  did  not  affect  me  in  the  least.  I  went 
straight  to  him,  taking  his  hand  in  response  to  the 
introduction  and  saying  a  few  common-place  things. 
They  were  very  home-like  for  city  people,  inviting 
15 


226  The    Conquest 

me  to  supper  and  treating  me  with  much  respect. 
The  head  of  the  table  was  occupied  by  the  Reverend 
when  he  was  at  home  and  by  Claves  when  the 
Reverend  was  away.  I  could  readily  see  where 
Ethel  got  her  airs.  It  took  him  about  thirty 
minutes  to  get  over  his  ceremonious  manner,  after 
which  we  talked  freely,  or  rather,  I  talked.  He  was 
a  poor  listener  and,  although  he  never  cut  off  my 
discourse  in  any  way,  he  didn't  listen  as  I  had  been 
used  to  having  people  listen,  apparently  with  en 
couragement  in  their  eyes,  which  makes  talking  a 
pleasure,  so  I  soon  ceased  to  talk.  This,  however, 
seemed  still  more  awkward  and  I  grew  to  feel  a 
trifle  displeased  in  his  company. 

On  the  following  Sunday  we  went  to  morning 
service  on  Wabash  avenue  at  a  big  stone  structure. 
It  appeared  to  be  a  rule  of  the  household  that  the 
girls  should  go  out  together.  This  displeased  me 
very  much,  as  I  had  grown  to  dislike  Ethel  and 
Claves  did  not  interest  me.  Both  talked  of  society 
and  "swell  people"  they  wanted  me  to  meet,  putting 
it  in  such  a  way  as  to  have  me  feel  I  was  meeting 
my  betters,  while  the  truth  of  the  matter  was  that 
I  did  not  desire  to  meet  any  of  their  friends  nor  to 
have  them  with  us  anywhere  we  went.  When 
church  services  were  over  we  went  to  spend  the 
time  before  Sunday  School  opened,  with  some 
friends  of  theirs  named  Latimer,  who  lived  on  Wabash 
avenue  near  the  church,  and  who  were  so  nearly 
white  that  they  could  easily  have  passed  for  white 
people. 

The  family  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Latimer 
and  Mr.  Latimer's  sister,  and  were  the  most  in- 


The    Conquest  227 

teresting  people  I  had  ever  met  on  any  of  my  trips 
to  Chicago.  They  inquired  all  about  Dakota  and 
whether  there  were  many  colored  settlers  in  the 
state,  listening  to  every  word  with  careful  attention 
and  approving  or  disapproving  with  nods  and 
smiles.  While  they  were  so  deeply  interested, 
Claves,  who  had  a  reputation  for  "butting  in"  and 
talking  too  much,  interrupted  the  conversation, 
blurting  out  his  opinion,  stopping  me  and  embar 
rassing  them,  by  stating  that  colored  people  had 
been  held  in  slavery  for  two  hundred  years  and 
since  they  were  free  they  did  not  want  to  go  out  into 
the  wilderness  and  sit  on  a  farm,  but  wanted  to  be 
where  they  could  have  freedom  and  convenience, 
and  this  was  sanctioned  by  a  friend  of  Claves's 
who  was  still  more  ignorant  than  he.  This  angered 
Orlean  and  when  we  were  outside  even  Ethel  ex 
pressed  her  disgust  at  Claves'  ignorance. 

They  told  me  that  the  Latimers  were  very  well- 
to-do,  owning  considerable  property  besides  the 
three-story  building  where  they  lived.  To  me  this 
accounted  for  their  careful  attention,  for  it  is  my 
opinion  that  when  you  find  a  colored  man  or  woman 
who  has  succeeded  in  actually  doing  something, 
and  not  merely  pretending  to,  you  will  find  an  in 
teresting  and  reasonable  person  to  converse  with, 
and  one  who  will  listen  to  a  description  of  conditions 
and  opportunities  with  marked  intelligence. 

Orlean  and  I  attended  a  few  shows  at  the  down 
town  theatres  during  the  week,  the  first  being  a 
pathetic  drama  which  our  friends  advised  us  to  see 
entitled  "Madam  X".  I  did  not  like  it  at  all.  The 
leading  character  is  the  wife  of  a  business  man  who 


228  The    Conquest 

has  left  her  husband  and  remains  away  from  him  two 
years,  presumably  discouraged  over  his  lack  of 
affection;  is  very  young  and  wants  to  be  loved,  as 
the  "old  story "  goes,  and  the  husband  is  too  busy 
to  know  that  she  is  unhappy.  She  returns  after 
two  years  and  asks  forgiveness  and  love,  but  is 
turned  away  by  the  husband.  Twenty  years  later, 
in  the  closing  act,  a  court  scene  decorates  the  stage; 
a  woman  is  on  trial  for  killing  the  man  she  has  lived 
with  unlawfully.  She  had  been  a  woman  of  the 
street  and  lived  with  many  others  before  living  with 
the  one  murdered.  The  young  lawyer  who  has 
her  case,  is  her  son,  although  he  is  not  aware  of  this 
fact.  He  has  just  been  admitted  to  the  bar  and 
this  is  his  first  case,  having  been  appointed  to  the 
defense  by  the  court.  He  takes  the  stand  and 
delivers  an  eloquent  address  on  behalf  of  the  woman, 
who  appears  to  be  so  saturated  with  liquor  and 
cocaine  as  to  be  quite  oblivious  of  her  surroundings. 
She  expires  from  the  effect  of  her  dissipations,  but 
just  before  death  she  looks  up  and  recognizes  her 
son,  she  having  been  the  young  wife  who  left  her 
home  twenty-two  years  before.  The  unhappy 
father,  who  had  suffered  as  only  a  deserted  husband 
can  and  who  had  prayed  for  many  years  for  the 
return  of  the  wife,  is  present  in  the  court  room  and 
together  with  the  son,  are  at  her  side  in  death.  As 
the  climax  of  the  play  is  reached,  suppressed  sobs 
became  audible  in  the  balcony,  where  we  had  seats. 
The  scene  was  pathetic,  indeed,  and  I  had  hard 
work  keeping  back  the  tears  while  my  betrothed  was 
using  her  handkerchief  freely. 
What  I  did  not  like  about  the  play  was  the  fact 


TheConquest  229 

of  her  going  away  and  taking  up  an  immoral  life 
instead  of  remaining  pure  and  returning  later  to 
her  husband.  The  husband,  as  the  play  goes,  had 
not  been  a  bad  man  and  was  unhappy  throughout 
the  play,  and  I  argued  this  with  Orlean  all  the  way 
home.  Why  did  she  not  remain  good  and  when  she 
returned  he  could  have  gathered  her  into  his  arms 
and  "  lived  happy  ever  after."  Not  only  my  fiancee 
but  most  other  women  I  have  talked  with  about 
the  play  contend  that  he  could  have  taken  her  back 
when  she  returned  and  been  good  to  her.  The  man 
who  wrote  the  play  may  have  been  a  tragedian  but 
the  management  that  put  it  on  the  road  knew  a 
money-maker  and  kept  it  there  as  long  as  the  people 
patronized  the  box  office. 

The  next  play  we  attended  suited  me  better  as, 
to  my  mind,  it  possessed  all  that  "  Madam  X" 
lacked  and,  instead  of  weakness  and  an  unhappy 
ending,  this  was  one  of  strength  of  character  and 
a  happy  finale.  It  was  "The  Fourth  Estate,"  by 
Joseph  Medill  Patterson,  who  served  his  appren 
ticeship  in  writing  on  the  Chicago  Tribune.  It 
was  a  newspaper  play  and  its  interest  centered 
around  one  Wheeler  Brand,  who,  through  the  pur 
chase  of  a  big  city  daily  by  a  western  man,  with  the 
bigness  to  hand  out  the  truth  regardless  of  the 
threats  of  the  big  advertisers,  becomes  managing 
editor.  He  relentlessly  goes  after  one  Judge  Bartel- 
ing  whose  "rotten"  decisions  had  but  sufficed  to 
help  "big  business"  and  without  regard  to  their 
effect  upon  the  poor.  The  one  really  square  de 
cision  was  recalled  before  it  took  effect.  To  com 
plicate  matters  the  young  editor  loves  the  judge's 


daughter  and  while  Brand  holds  a  high  place 
in  Miss  Barteling's  regard,  he  is  made  to  feel 
that  to  retain  it  he  must  stop  the  fight  on  her 
father.  Brand  pleads  with  her  to  see  the  moral 
of  it  but  is  unable  to  change  her  views.  One  evening 
Brand  secures  a  flashlight  photo  and  telephone 
witnesses  of  an  interview  with  the  judge,  the  photo 
showing  the  judge  in  the  act  of  handing  him  a 
ten-thousand-dollar  bribe.  Late  that  night  Brand 
has  the  article  exposing  this  transaction  in  type 
and  ready  for  the  press  when  the  proprietor,  who 
has  heretofore  been  so  pleased  with  Brand's  perfor 
mance,  but  whose  wife  has  gained  an  entrance  into 
society  through  the  influence  of  Judge  Barteling, 
enters  the  office  with  the  order  to  "kill  the  story." 

This  was  a  hard  blow  to  the  coming  newspaper 
man.  The  judge  calls  and  jokes  him  about  being 
a  smart  boy  but  crazed  with  ideals,  but  is  shocked 
when  he  turns  to  find  his  daughter  has  entered  the 
office  and  has  heard  the  conversation.  He  tells 
her  to  come  along  home  with  papa,  but  she  decides 
to  remain  with  Brand.  She  has  thought  her  father 
in  the  right  all  along,  but  now  that  she  has  heard  her 
father  condone  dishonesty  she  can  no  longer  think 
so.  Wheeler  disobeys  orders  and  sends  the  paper 
to  press  without  "killing  the  story,"  and  "all's  well 
that  ends  well." 

In  a  week  or  so  I  was  back  in  Dakota  where  the 
thermometer  registered  twenty-five  below  with 
plenty  of  snow  for  company.  I  received  a  letter 
from  the  Reverend  shortly  after  returning  home 
saying  they  hoped  to  see  me  in  Chicago  again  soon. 
I  did  not  know  what  that  meant  unless  it  was  that 


i  was  expected  to  return  to  oe  marnea,  out  as  i 
had  been  to  Chicago  twice  in  less  than  four  months 
and  had  suggested  to  Orlean  that  she  come  to 
Megory  and  be  married  there,  I  supposed  that  it 
was  all  settled,  but  this  was  where  I  began  to  learn 
that  the  McCraline  family  were  very  inconsiderate. 

I  had  not  claimed  to  be  wealthy  or  to  have  un 
limited  amounts  of  money  to  spend  in  going  to  and 
from  Chicago,  as  though  it  were  a  matter  of  eighty 
miles  instead  of  eight  hundred.  I  had  explained 
to  the  Reverend  that  it  was  a  burden  rather  than 
a  luxury  to  be  possessed  of  a  lot  of  raw  land,  until 
it  could  be  cultivated  and  made  to  yield  a  profit. 
I  recalled  that  while  talking  with  the  Reverend  in 
regard  to  this  he  had  nodded  his  head  in  assent  but 
with  no  facial  expression  to  indicate  that  he  under 
stood  or  cared.  The  more  I  knew  him  the  more 
I  disliked  him,  and  was  very  sorry  that  Orlean  re 
garded  his  as  a  great  man,  although  his  immediate 
family  were  the  only  ones  who  regarded  him  in 
that  light.  I  had  learned  to  expect  his  ceremonious 
manner  but  was  considerably  tried  by  his  apparent 
dullness  and  lack  of  interest  or  encouragement  of 
practical  ideas. 

I  put  volumes  into  my  letters  to  Orlean,  trying  to 
make  clear  why  she  should  condescend  to  come  to 
Megory  and  be  quietly  married  instead  of  obliging 
me  to  return  to  Chicago.  I  had  no  more  money, 
as  it  was  expensive  to  keep  my  grandmother  and 
sister  on  their  claims.  They  had  no  money  and  I 
had  no  outside  support,  not  even  the  moral  support 
of  my  people  nor  of  Orlean 's,  who  all  seemed  to 
take  it  for  granted  that  I  had  plenty  of  ready  money, 


232  The    Conquest 

I  had  not  taken  a  cent  out  of  the  crop  I  had  raised, 
the  corn  still  standing  in  the  field,  with  a  heavy  snow 
on  the  ground  and  my  small  grain  still  unthreshed. 
However,  my  letters  were  in  vain.  Miss  Mc- 
Craline  could  see  no  other  way  than  that  if  I  cared 
for  her  I'd  come  and  marry  her  at  home,  which  she 
contended  was  no  more  than  right  and  would  look 
much  better.  I  sighed  wearily  over  it  all  and  began 
to  suspect  I  was  "in  the  right  church,  but  in  the 
wrong  pew." 


TheConquest  233 

CHAPTER  XXXV 

AN  UNCROWNED  KING 

WARD  spring  the  snow  melted  and 
with  gum  boots  I  plunged  into  the  cold, 
wet  corn  field  and  began  gathering  the 
corn.  It  was  nasty,  cold  work.  The 
damp  earth  sent  cold  chills  up  through  my  limbs 
and  as  a  result  I  was  ill,  and  could  do  nothing  for 
a  week  or  more.  In  desperation  I  wrote  the  Rever 
end  and  being  a  man,  I  hoped  he'd  understand.  I 
told  him  of  my  sickness  and  the  circumstances,  of 
(Mean's  claim  and  of  my  crops  to  be  put  in.  It  was 
then  April  and  soon  the  oats,  wheat  and  barley 
should  be  seeded.  It  was  a  business  letter  al 
together,  but  I  never  heard  from  him,  and  later 
learned  that  he  had  read  only  a  part  of  the  letter. 
While  in  Chicago,  one  evening  I  had  called  at 
the  house  and  found  the  household  in  a  ferment  of 
excitement,  with  everyone  saying  nothing  and 
apparently  trying  to  look  as  small  and  scarced  as 
possible,  while  in  their  midst,  standing  like  a  jungle 
king  and  in  a  plaided  bathrobe,  the  Reverend  was 
pouring  a  storm  of  abuse  upon  his  wife  and  shouting 
orders  while  the  wife  was  trotting  to  and  fro  like 
a  frightened  lamb,  protesting  weakly.  The  way  he 
was  storming  at  her  made  me  feel  ashamed  but  after 
listening  to  his  tirade  for  some  fifteen  minutes  I 
was  angry  enough  to  knock  him  down  then  and  there. 
He  reminded  me  more  of  a  brute  than  a  pious  min 
ister.  When  he  had  finally  exhausted  himself  he 
turned  without  speaking  to  me  and  strode  up  the 


234  The    Conquest 

stairs,  head  reared  back  and  carrying  himself  like 
a  brave  soldier  returning  from  war.  I  wondered 
then  how  long  it  would  be  before  I  would  be  com 
manded  as  she  had  been.  Shortly  afterward  I 
could  hardly  control  the  impulse  to  take  her  in  my 
arms  and  comfort  her.  She  was  crying  quietly 
and  looked  so  pitiful.  I  was  told  she  had  been 
treated  in  a  like  manner  off  and  on  for  thirty  years. 

As  stated,  I  did  not  hear  from  the  Reverend  and 
when  I  wrote  to  Orlean  I  implied  that  I  did  not 
think  her  father  much  of  a  business  man.  Perhaps 
this  was  wrong,  at  least  when  I  received  another 
letter  from  her  it  contained  the  receipt  for  the  pay 
ment  on  the  claim,  and  the  single  sheet  of  paper 
comprising  the  letter  conveyed  the  intelligence 
that  since  she  thought  it  best  not  to  marry  me  she 
was  forwarding  the  receipt  with  thanks  for  my  kind 
ness  and  hopes  for  future  success.  I  received  the 
letter  on  Friday.  Saturday  night  I  went  into 
Megory  and  took  the  early  Sunday  morning  train 
bound  for  Chicago  and  to  marry  her,  and  while  I 
did  not  think  she  had  treated  me  just  right  I  would 
not  allow  a  matter  of  a  trip  to  Chicago  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  our  marriage.  I  had  an  idea  her  father 
was  indirectly  responsible.  He  and  I  were  much 
unlike  and  disagreed  in  our  discussions  concerning 
the  so-called  negro  problem,  and  in  almost  every 
other  discussion  in  which  we  had  engaged. 

Arriving  in  Omaha  I  sent  a  telegram  to  Orlean 
asking  her  not  to  go  to  work  that  day,  as  I  would 
be  in  Chicago  in  the  morning.  At  the  depot  I 
called  up  the  house  and  Claves  answered  the  phone 
and  was  very  impertinent,  but  before  he  said  much 


The    Conquest  235 

Orlean  took  the  receiver  and  without  much  welcome 
started  to  tell  me  about  the  criticisms  of  her  father 
in  my  letters. 

"You  are  not  taking  it  in  the  right  way,"  I 
hurriedly  told  her.  "I'll  come  to  the  house  and 
we'll  talk  it  over.  You  will  see  me,  won't  you?  " 

"Yes,"  she  answered  hesitatingly,  appearing  to 
be  a  little  frightened.  Then  added,  "I'll  do  you 
that  honor." 

The  Reverend  had  returned  to  Southern  Illinois, 
and  when  I  entered  the  house  the  rest  of  the  family 
appeared  to  have  been  holding  a  consultation  in 
the  kitchen,  which  they  had,  as  Orlean  informed 
me  later,  with  Orlean  standing  poutingly  to  one 
side.  She  commenced  telling  me  what  she  was  not 
going  to  do,  but  I  went  directly  to  her,  and  gathered 
her  in  my  arms,  with  her  making  a  slight  resistance 
but  soon  succumbing.  I  looked  down  at  her  still 
pouting  face  and  remonstrated  teasingly.. 

Ethel  broke  in,  her  voice  resembling  a  scream, 
protesting  against  such  boldness  on  my  part,  say 
ing:  "Orlean  doesn't  want  you  and  she  isn't  going 
to  go  onto  your  old  farm".  Here  Orlean  silenced 
her  saying  that  she  would  attend  to  that  herself, 
and  took  me  to  the  front  part  of  the  house,  with  her 
mother  tagging  after  us  in  a  sort  of  half -stupor  and 
apparently  not  knowing  what  to  do.  We  sat  down 
on  the  davenport  where  she  began  giving  me  a 
lecture  and  declaring  what  she  was  not  going  to  do. 
Her  mother  interposed  something  that  angered  me, 
though  I  do  not  now  recall  what  it  was,  and  a  look 
of  dissatisfaction  came  into  my  face  which  Orlean 
observed. 


236  The    Conquest 

"Don't  you  scold  mama/'  she  finished.  "Now, 
do  you  hear?" 

"Yes,  dear,"  I  answered,  meekly,  with  my  arm 
around  her  waist  and  my  face  hidden  behind  her 
shoulder.  "Anything  more?" 

"Well,  well."  She  appeared  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  further  to  say  or  how  to  proceed. 

Ethel  remarked  afterward  to  her  mother  that 
Orlean  had  not  been  near  me  a  half  hour  until  she 
was  listening  to  everything  I  said. 

She  finally  succeeded  in  getting  off  to  work 
after  commanding  me  to  free  her  as  she  wanted 
to  get  away  to  think,  Her  mother  bristled  up 
with  an,  "I'll  talk  to  you."  This  was  entirely  to 
my  liking.  I  loved  her  mother  as  well  as  my  own 
and  had  no  fear  that  we  would  not  soon  agree,  and 
we  did.  She  couldn't  be  serious  with  me  very  long. 
She  persisted  in  saying,  however: 

"I  want  my  husband  to  know  you  are  here  and 
to  know  all  about  this.  You  must  not  expect  to 
run  in  and  get  his  daughter  just  like  something  wild, 
nor  you  just  must  not!" 

"All  right,  mother,"  I  assented.  "But  I  must 
hurry  back  to  Dakota,  you  know,  for  I  can't  lose 
so  much  time  this  time  of  year." 

"You're  the  worst  man  I  ever  saw  for  always 
being  in  a  hurry.  I — I'll — well,  I  do  declare!' 
And  she  bustled  off  to  the  kitchen  with  me  following 
and  talking. 

"Oh,  can't  I  get  away  from  you?  This  is  just 
awful,  Mr.  Devereaux." 

"Don't  you  like  the  name?"  I  put  in  winningly 
and  cutting  off  her  discourse,  and  in  spite  of  her  at 
tempt  at  seriousness  she  smiled. 


The    Conquest  237 

."It  is  a  beautiful  name,"  she  admitted,  looking 
at  me  slyly  out  of  her  small  black  eyes.  She  was 
part  Indian,  just  a  trifle,  but  sufficient  to  give  her 
black  eyes  instead  of  brown,  as  most  colored 
people  have,  and  she  had  long  black  hair. 

Before  Orlean  returned  from  the  store  her  mother 
and  I  were  like  mother  and  son  and  Orlean  seemed 
pleased,  while  Ethel  looked  at  Claves  and  admitted 
that  I  would  get  Orlean,  anyhow.  The  only  thing 
necessary  now  was  to  reach  the  elder,  and  the  next 
morning  we  spent  a  couple  of  hours  trying  to  locate 
him  by  telephone.  We  finally  succeeded,  as  I 
thought,  but  he  denied  later  he  was  the  party, 
though  I  would  have  sworn  to  the  voice  being  his  as 
I  could  hear  him  distinctly.  In  answer  to  my 
statement  that  we  were  ready  to  marry  he  shouted 
in  a  frantic  voice: 

"I  don't  approve  of  it!  I  don't  approve  of  it! 
I  don't  approve  of  it!"  and  kept  shouting  it  over 
and  over  until  the  operator  called  the  time  was  up. 

A  letter  had  been  sent  him  by  special  delivery  the 
day  I  arrived  and  the  following  morning  a  reply 
was  received  stating  that  if  Orlean  married  me, 
without  my  convincing  him  that  I  was  marrying 
her  for  love,  and  not  to  hold  down  a  Dakota  claim, 
she  would  be  doing  so  without  his  consent.  In 
discussing  the  matter  later  Ethel,  who  had  become 
resigned  to  the  inevitable,  said : 

"If  you  want  to  get  along  with  papa  you  must 
flatter  him.  Just  make  him  think  he  is  a  king." 

"Ah,"  I  thought.  "Here  is  where  I  made  my 
mistake." 

I  had  started  wrong.     "Just  make  him  think  he 


238  The    Conquest 

is  a  king,  His  Majesty  Newton  Jasper."  The 
idea  kept  revolving  in  my  mind  as  I  realized  the 
reason  I  had  not  made  good  with  him.  I  was  too 
plain  and  sincere.  I  must  flatter  him,  make  him 
think  he  was  what  he  was  not,  and  my  failure  to  do 
that  was  the  reason  for  his  listening  to  me  in  such 
an  expressionless  manner. 

Somewhere  I  had  read  that  to  be  a  king  was  to 
look  wise  and  say  nothing.  This  is  what  he  had 
done.  Evidently  he  liked  to  feel  great.  I  recalled 
the  name  he  was  known  by,  "the  Reverend  N.  J.," 
and  I  had  heard  him  spoken  of  jokingly  as  the  "  Great 
N.  J."  The  N.  J.  was  for  Newton  Jasper.  Ha! 
Ha!  The  more  I  thought  of  his  greatness  the  more 
amused  I  became.  I  might  have  settled  the  matter 
easily  if  I  had  no  objection  to  flattering  him.  He 
arrived  home  the  next  morning  and  was  sitting  in 
the  parlor  when  I  called,  trying  to  look  serious,  and 
surveying  me  as  I  entered,  just  as  a  king  might  have 
done  a  disobedient  subject.  I  had  been  so  free 
and  without  fear  for  so  long  that  it  was  beyond  my 
ability  to  shrivel  up  and  drop  as  he  continued  to 
look  me  over.  I  proceeded  to  tell  him  all  that  I  had 
written  in  my  letter  to  him,  the  one  he  had  not 
read,  but  did  not  intimate  that  I  knew  he  had  not 
read  it. 

In  the  dining  room  where  we  gathered  a  few 
minutes  later,  with  the  family  assembled  in  mute 
attention,  he  asked  Orlean  whether  she  wanted 
to  marry  me  and  live  in  Dakota  and  she  admitted 
that  she  did.  Then  turning  to  me  he  began  a 
lengthy  discourse  with  many  ifs  and  if  nots  and  kept 
it  up  until  I  cut  in  with : 


The    Conquest  239 

"My  dear  people,  when  I  first  came  to  see  Orlean 
I  didn't  profess  love.  Circumstances  had  not 
granted  us  the  opportunity,  but  we  entered  a  mutual 
agreement  that  we  would  wait  and  see  whether  we 
could  learn  to  love  each  other  or  not."  Hesitating 
a  moment,  I  looked  at  Orlean  and  gaining  confidence 
as  I  met  her  soft  glance,  I  went  on:  "I  cannot 
guarantee  anything  as  to  the  future.  We  may  be 
happy,  and  we  may  not,  but  I  hope  for  the  best." 

That  seemed  to  satisfy  him  and  he  was  very  nice 
about  it  afterward.  Orlean  and  I  had  been  to  the 
court  house  the  day  previous  and  got  the  license, 
and  when  her  father  told  us  we  should  go  and  get 
the  license  we  looked  at  each  other  rather  sheepishly, 
and  stammered  out  something,  but  went  down  town 
and  bought  a  pair  of  shoes  instead.  When  we  ar 
rived  home  preparations  were  being  made  for  the 
wedding.  The  elder  called  up  the  homes  of  two 
bishops  who  lived  in  the  city,  and  when  he  found  one 
sick  and  the  other  out  of  town  he  was  somewhat 
disappointed,  as  it  had  always  been  his  desire  to 
have  his  daughters  married  by  a  bishop.  He  had 
failed  in  the  first  instance  and  was  compelled  to 
accept  the  services  of  the  pastor  of  one  of  the  three 
large  African  M.  E.  Churches  of  the  city  at  the 
wedding  of  Ethel,  and  had  to  call  upon  this  pastor 
again  but  found  he  also  was  out  of  the  city.  He 
finally  secured  the  services  of  another  pastor,  by 
whom  we  were  married  in  the  presence  of  some 
twenty  or  more  near  friends  of  the  family,  Orlean 
wearing  her  sister's  wedding  dress  and  veil.  The 
dress  was  becoming  and  I  thought  her  very  beautiful. 
I  wore  a  Prince  Albert  coat  and  trousers  to  match 


240  The    Conquest 

which  belonged  to  Claves  and  were  too  small  and 
tight,  making  me  uncomfortable.  I  was  not  long 
in  getting  out  of  them  after  undergoing  the  ordeal 
of  being  kissed  by  all  the  ladies  present.  Mrs.  Ewis 
invited  us  to  spend  the  evening  at  her  home  and 
the  next  day  we  left  for  South  Dakota. 


The    Conquest  241 

CHAPTER  XXXVI 

A  SNAKE  IN  THE  GRASS 

>UALLY  in  the  story  of  a  man's  life,  or 
in  fiction,  when  he  gets  the  girl's  consent 
to  marry,  first  admitting  the  love,  the 
story  ends;  but  with  mine  it  was  much 
to  the  contrary.  The  story  did  not  end  there, 
nor  when  we  had  married  that  afternoon  at  two 
o'clock.  Instead,  my  marriage  brought  the  change 
in  my  life  which  was  the  indirect  cause  of  my  writing 
this  story.  From  that  time  adventures  were  numer 
ous.  We  arrived  in  Megory  several  hours  late  and 
remained  over  night  at  a  hotel,  going  to  the  farm  the 
next  morning  and  then  to  the  house  I  had  rented 
temporarily. 

I  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  when  I  looked  over  the 
fields,  and  saw  that  the  boy  I  hired  had  done  nicely 
with  the  work  during  my  absence.  The  next  night 
about  sixty  of  the  white  neighbors  gave  us  a  chari 
vari  and  my  wife  was  much  pleased  to  know  there 
was  no  color  prejudice  among  them.  We  purchased 
about  a  hundred  dollars  worth  of  furniture  in  the 
town  and  at  once  began  housekeeping.  My  bride 
didn't  know  much  about  cooking,  but  otherwise 
was  a  good  housekeeper,  and  willing  to  learn  all 
she  could.  She  was  not  a  forceful  person  and  could 
not  be  hurried,  but  was  kind  and  good  as  could  be, 
and  I  soon  became  very  fond  of  her  and  found  mar 
riage  much  of  an  improvement  over  living  alone. 
In  May  we  went  up  to  her  claim  and  put  up  a  sod 
house  and  stayed  there  awhile,  later  returning  to 
16 


242  The    Conquest 

Megory  county  to  look  after  the  crops.  Our  first 
trouble  occurred  in  about  a  month.  I  was  still 
rather  angry  over  the  Reverend's  obliging  me  to 
spend  the  money  to  go  to  Chicago.  This  had  cost 
me  a  hundred  dollars  which  I  needed  badly  to  pay 
the  interest  on  my  loan.  Letters  began  coming 
from  the  company  holding  the  mortgages,  besides 
I  had  other  obligations  pending.  I  had  only  fifty 
dollars  in  the  bank  when  I  started  to  Chicago  and 
while  there  drew  checks  on  it  for  fifty  more,  making 
an  overdraft  of  fifty  dollars  which  it  took  me  a  month 
to  get  paid  after  returning  home.  The  furniture 
required  for  housekeeping  and  improvements  in 
connection  with  the  homesteads  took  more  money, 
and  my  sister  went  home  to  attend  the  graduation 
of  another  sister  and  I  was  required  to  pay  the  bills. 
My  corn  was  gathered  and  I  now  shelled  it.  As  the 
price  in  Megory  was  only  forty  cents  at  the  elevators 
I  hauled  it  to  Victor,  where  I  received  seventy  and 
sometimes  seventy-five  cents  for  it,  but  as  it  was 
thirty -five  miles,  that  took  time  and  the  long  drive 
was  hard  on  the  horses.  (Mean's  folks  kept  writing 
letters  telling  her  she  must  send  money  to  buy  some 
thing  they  thought  nice  for  her  to  have,  and  while 
no  doubt  not  intending  to  cause  any  trouble,  they 
made  it  very  hard  for  me.  Money  matters  are 
usually  a  source  of  trouble  to  the  lives  of  newly-weds 
and  business  is  so  cold-blooded  that  it  contrasts 
severely  with  love's  young  dream. 

My  position  was  a  trying  one  for  the  reason  that 
all  the  relatives  on  both  sides  seemed  to  take  it  for 
granted  that  I  should  have  plenty  of  money,  and 
nothing  I  could  say  or  do  seemed  to  change  matters 


TheConquest  243 

From  his  circuit  the  Reverend  wrote  glowing  letters 
to  his  "daughter  and  son,"  of  what  all  the  people 
were  saying.  Everybody  thought  she  had  married 
so  well;  Mr.  Deveraux,  or  Oscar,  as  they  put  it, 
was  of  good  family,  a  successful  young  man,  and 
was  rich.  I  hadn't  written  to  him  and  called  him 
"dear  father."  Perhaps  this  is  what  I  should  have 
done.  In  a  way  it  would  have  been  easy  enough 
to  write,  and  since  my  marriage  I  had  no  letters  to 
spend  hours  in  writing.  Perhaps  I  should  have 
written  to  him,  but  when  a  man  is  in  the  position 
I  faced,  debts  on  one  side  and  relatives  on  the  other, 
I  thought  it  would  not  do  to  write  as  I  felt,  and  I 
could  not  write  otherwise  and  play  the  hypocrite,  as 
I  had  not  liked  him  from  the  beginning,  and  now  dis 
liked  him  still  more  because  I  could  find  no  way  of 
letting  him  know  how  I  felt.  This  was  no  doubt 
foolish,  but  it  was  the  way  I  felt  about  it  at  the  time. 
My  father-in-law  evidently  thought  me  ungrateful, 
and  wrote  Orlean  that  I  should  write  him  or  the 
folks  at  home  occasionally,  but  I  remained  obdurate. 
I  felt  sure  he  expected  me  to  feel  flattered  over  the 
opinions  of  which  he  had  written  in  regard  to  my 
being  considered  rich,  but  I  did  not  want  to  be 
considered  rich,  for  I  was  not.  I  had  never  been 
vain,  and  hating  flattery,  I  wanted  to  tell  her  people 
the  truth.  I  wanted  them  to  understand,  if  they 
did  not,  what  it  took  to  make  good  in  this  western 
country,  and  that  I  had  a  load  and  wanted  their 
encouragement  and  invited  criticism,  not  empty 
praise  and  flattery. 

Before  I  had  any  colored  people  to  discourage  me 
with  their  ignorance  of  business  or  what  is  required 


244  T\he    Conquest 

for  success,  I  was  stimulated  to  effort  by  the  example 
of  my  white  neighbors  and  friends  who  were  doing 
what  I  admired,  building  an  empire;  and  to  me  that 
was  the  big  idea.  Their  parents  before  them  knew 
something  of  business  and  this  knowledge  was  a 
goodly  heritage.  If  they  could  not  help  their 
children  with  money  they  at  least  gave  their  moral 
support  and  visited  them  and  encouraged  them 
with  kind  words  of  hope  and  cheer.  The  people 
in  a  new  country  live  mostly  on  hopes  for  the  first 
five  or  ten  years.  My  parents  and  grandparents 
had  been  slaves,  honest,  but  ignorant.  My  father 
could  neither  read  nor  write,  had  not  succeeded  in  a 
large  way,  and  had  nothing  to  give  me  as  a  start, 
not  even  practical  knowledge.  My  wife's  parents 
were  a  little  different,  but  it  would  have  been  better 
for  me  had  her  father  been  other  than  "the  big 
preacher"  as  he  was  referred  to,  who  in  order  to 
be  at  peace  with,  it  was  necessary  to  praise. 

What  I  wanted  in  the  circumstances  I  now  faced 
was  to  be  allowed  to  mould  my  wife  into  a  practical 
woman  who  would  be  a  help  in  the  work  we  had 
before  us,  and  some  day,  I  assured  her,  we  would 
be  well  to  do,  and  then  we  could  have  the  better 
things  of  life. 

"How  long?"  She  would  ask,  weeping.  She 
was  always  crying  and  so  many  tears  got  on  my 
nerves,  especially  when  my  creditors  were  pestering 
me  with  duns,  and  it  is  Hades  to  be  dunned,  es 
pecially  when  you  have  not  been  used  to  it. 

"Oh!"  I'd  say.     "Five  or  ten  years." 

And  then  she'd  have  another  cry,  and  I  would 
have  to  do  a  lot  of  petting  and  persuading  to  keep 


The    Conquest  245 

her  from  telling  her  mother.  This  all  had  a  ten 
dency  to  make  me  cross  and  I  began  to  neglect 
kissing  her  as  much  as  I  had  been  doing,  but  she 
was  good  and  had  been  a  nice  girl  when  I  married 
her.  She  could  only  be  made  to  stop  crying  when 
I  would  spend  an  hour  or  two  petting  and  assuring 
her  I  still  loved  her,  and  this  when  I  should  have  been 
in  the  fields.  She  would  ask  me  a  dozen  times  a 
day  whether  I  still  loved  her,  or  was  I  growing  tired 
of  her  so  soon.  She  was  a  veritable  clinging  vine. 
This  continued  until  we  were  both  decidedly  un 
happy  and  then  began  ugly  little  quarrels,  but  when 
she  would  be  away  with  my  sister  to  her  claim  in 
Tipp  county  I  would  be  so  lonesome  without  her, 
simple  as  I  thought  she  was,  and  days  seemed  like 
weeks. 

One  day  she  was  late  in  bringing  my  dinner  to 
the  field  where  I  was  plowing,  and  we  had  a  quarrel 
which  made  us  both  so  miserable  and  unhappy  that 
we  were  ashamed  of  ourselves.  By  some  power  for 
which  we  were  neither  responsible,  our  disagree 
ments  came  to  an  end  and  we  never  quarreled  again. 

The  first  two  weeks  in  June  were  hot  and  dry, 
and  considerable  damage  was  done  to  the  crops  in 
Tipp  county  and  in  Megory  county  also.  The 
winds  blew  from  the  south  and  became  so  hot  the 
young  green  plants  began  to  fire,  but  a  big  rain  on 
the  twenty-fourth  saved  the  crops  in  Megory 
county.  About  that  time  the  Reverend  wrote  that 
he  would  come  to  see  us  after  conference,  which 
was  then  three  months  away. 

One  day  we  were  going  to  town  after  our  little 
quarrels  were  over,  and  I  talked  kindly  with  Orlean 


246  The    Conquest 

about  her  father  and  tried  to  overcome  my  dislike 
of  him,  for  her  sake.  I  had  learned  by  that  time 
just  how  she  had  been  raised,  and  that  was  to 
to  praise  her  father.  She  would  say: 

"You  know,  papa  is  such  a  big  man,"  or  "He 
is  so  great/' 

She  had  begun  to  call  me  her  great  and  big  hus 
band,  and  I  think  that  had  been  the  cause  of  part  of 
our  quarrels  for  I  had  discouraged  it.  I  had  a 
horror  of  praise  when  I  thought  how  silly  her  father 
was  over  it,  and  she  had  about  ceased  and  now 
talked  more  sensibly,  weighing  matters  and  help 
ing  me  a  little  mentally. 

We  talked  of  her  father  and  his  expected  visit. 
She  appeared  so  pleased  over  the  prospect  and  said : 

"Won't  he  make  a  hit  up  here?  Won't  these 
white  people  be  foolish  over  his  fine  looks  and  that 
beautiful  white  hair?"  And  she  raised  her  hands 
and  drew  them  back  as  I  had  seen  her  do  in  stroking 
her  father's  hair. 

I  agreed  with  her  that  he  would  attract  some 
attention  and  changed  the  subject.  When  we 
returned  home  she  gave  me  the  letter  to  read  that 
she  had  written  to  him.  She  was  obedient  and  did 
try  so  hard  to  please  me,  and  when  I  read  in  the 
letter  she  had  written  that  we  had  been  to  town  and 
had  talked  about  him  all  the  way  and  were  anxious 
for  him  to  visit  us;  that  we  had  agreed  that  he  would 
make  a  great  impression  with  the  people  out  here, 
I  wanted  very  much  to  tell  her  not  to  send  that 
letter  as  it  placed  me  in  a  false  light,  and  would 
cause  him  to  think  the  people  were  going  to  be 
crazy  about  him  and  his  distinguished  appearance; 


The    Conquest  247 

but  she  was  watching  me  so  closely  that  I  could 
not  be  mean  enough  to  speak  my  mind  and  did  not 
offer  my  usual  criticism. 

A  short  time  before  her  father  arrived,  a  contest 
was  filed  against  (Mean's  claim  on  the  ground  that 
she  had  never  established  a  residence.  We  had 
established  residence,  but  by  staying  much  of  the 
time  in  Megory  county  had  laid  the  claim  liable 
to  contest.  The  man  who  filed  the  contest  was  a 
banker  in  Amro,  this  bank  being  one  of  the  few 
buildings  left  there.  I  knew  we  were  in  for  a 
big  expense  and  lots  of  trouble,  which  I  had  feared, 
and  had  been  working  early  and  late  to  get  through 
my  work  in  Megory  county  and  get  onto  her  claim 
permanently. 

We  did  not  receive  the  Reverend's  letter  stating 
when  he  would  arrive  so  I  was  not  at  the  train  to 
meet  him,  but  happened  to  be  in  town  on  horse 
back.  In  answer  to  my  inquiries,  a  man  who  had 
come  in  on  the  train  gave  me  a  description  of  a 
colored  man  who  had  arrived  on  the  same  train, 
and  I  knew  that  my  father-in-law  was  in  town. 
I  went  to  the  hotel  and  found  he  had  left  his  baggage 
but  had  gone  to  the  restaurant,  where  I  found  him. 
He  seemed  pleased  to  be  in  Megory  and  after  I 
explained  that  I  had  not  received  his  letter,  I  went 
to  look  up  a  German  neighbor  who  was  in  town  in 
a  buggy,  thinking  I  would  have  the  Reverend  ride 
out  with  him.  When  we  got  ready  to  go  the  German 
was  so  drunk  and  noisy  that  the  Reverend  was 
frightened  and  remarked  cautiously  that  he  did 
not  know  whether  he  wanted  to  ride  out  with  a 
drunken  man  or  not.  The  German  heard  him  and 
roared  in  a  still  louder  tone: 


248  The    Conquest 

"You  don't  have  to  ride  with  me.  Naw!  Naw! 
Naw!" 

The  elder  became  more  frightened  at  this  and 
hurriedly  ducked  into  the  hotel,  where  he  stayed. 
I  hitched  a  team  of  young  mules  to  the  wagon  the 
next  morning  and  sent  Orlean  to  town  after  him. 

The  Reverend  seemed  to  be  carried  away  with 
our  lives  on  the  Little  Crow,  and  we  got  along  fine 
until  he  and  I  got  to  arguing  the  race  question, 
which  brought  about  friction.  It  was  as  I  had 
feared  but  it  seemed  impossible  to  avoid  it.  He  had 
the  most  ancient  and  backward  ideas  concerning 
race  advancement  I  had  ever  heard.  He  was  filled 
to  overflowing  with  condemnation  of  the  white 
race  and  eulogy  of  the  negro.  In  his  idea  the  negro 
had  no  fault,  nor  could  he  do  any  wrong  or  make 
any  mistake.  Everything  had  been  against  him 
and  according  to  the  Reverend's  idea,  was  still. 
This  he  would  declare  very  loudly.  From  the  race 
question  we  drifted  to  the  discussion  of  mixed 
schools. 

The  Reverend  had  educated  his  girls  with  the 
intention  of  making  teachers  of  them  and  would 
speak  of  this  fact  with  much  pride,  speaking  slowly 
and  distinctly  like  one  who  has  had  years  of  oratory. 
He  would  insist  that  the  public  schools  of  Chicago 
have  not  given  them  a  chance.  "I  am  opposed 
to  mixed  schools,"  he  would  exclaim.  "They  are 
like  everything  else  the  white  people  control.  They 
are  managed  in  a  way  to  keep  the  colored  people 
down." 

Here  Orlean  dissented,  this  being  about  the  only 
time  she  did  openly  disagree  with  him.  She  was 


The    Conquest  249 

firm  in  declaring  there  was  no  law  or  management 
preventing  the  colored  girls'  teaching  in  Chicago 
if  they  were  competent. 

"In  the  first  place,"  she  carefully  continued, 
"the  school  we  attended  in  Ohio  does  not  admit 
to  teach  in  the  city." 

In  order  to  teach  in  the  city  schools  it  is  either 
necessary  to  be  a  graduate  of  the  normal,  or  have  had 
a  certain  number  of  years'  experience  elsewhere. 
I  do  not  remember  all  the  whys,  but  she  was  em 
phatic  and  continued  to  insist  that  it  was  to  some 
extent  the  fault  of  the  girls,  who  were  not  all  as 
attentive  to  books  as  they  should  be;  spending  too 
much  time  in  society  or  with  something  else  that 
kept  them  from  their  studies,  which  impaired  their 
chances  when  they  attempted  to  enter  the  city 
schools. 

She  held  up  instances  where  colored  girls  were 
teaching  in  Chicago  schools  and  had  been  for  years, 
which  knocked  the  foundation  from  his  argument. 

There  are  very  few  colored  people  in  a  city  or 
state  which  has  mixed  schools,  who  desire  to  have 
them  separated.  The  mixed  schools  give  the  col 
ored  children  a  more  equal  opportunity  and  all  the 
advantage  of  efficient  management.  Separate 
schools  lack  this.  Even  in  the  large  cities,  where 
separate  schools  are  in  force,  the  advantage  is  in 
variably  with  the  white  schools. 

Another  advantage  of  mixed  schools  is,  it  helps 
to  eliminate  so  much  prejudice.  Many  ignorant 
colored  people,  as  well  as  many  ignorant  white 
people,  fill  their  children's  minds  with  undue  prej 
udice  against  each  race.  If  they  are  kept  in  sepa- 


250  TheConquest 

rate  schools  this  line  becomes  more  distinct,  with 
one  colored  child  filling  the  mind  of  other  colored 
children  with  bad  ideas,  and  the  white  child  doing 
likewise,  which  is  never  helpful  to  the  community. 
By  nature,  in  the  past  at  least,  the  colored  children 
were  more  ferocious  and  aggressive;  too  much  so, 
which  is  because  they  have  not  been  out  of  heathen 
ism  many  years.  The  mixed  school  helps  to  elim 
inate  this  tendency. 

With  the  Reverend  it  was  a  self-evident  fact,  that 
the  only  thing  he  cared  about  was  that  it  would 
be  easier  for  the  colored  girls  to  teach,  if  the  schools 
were  separate.  I  was  becoming  more  and  more 
convinced  that  he  belonged  to  the  class  of  the  negro 
race  that  desires  ease,  privilege,  freedom,  position, 
and  luxury  without  any  great  material  effort  on 
their  part  to  acquire  it,  and  still  held  to  the  time- 
worn  cry  of  "no  opportunity." 

Following  this  disagreement  came  another.  I 
had  always  approved  of  Booker  T.  Washington, 
his  life  and  his  work  in  the  uplift  of  the  negro. 
Before  his  name  was  mentioned  I  had  decided  just 
about  how  he  would  take  it,  and  I  was  not  mis 
taken.  He  was  bitterly  opposed  to  the  educator. 


The    Conquest  251 

CHAPTER  XXXVII 

THE   PROGRESSIVES  AND  THE   REACTIONARIES 


T  is  not  commonly  known  by  the  white 
people  at  large  that  a  great  number  of 
colored  people  are  against  Mr.  Washing 
ton.  Being  an  educator  and  philan 
thropist,  it  is  hard  to  conceive  any  reason  why  they 
should  be  opposed  to  him,  but  the  fact  remains 
that  they  are. 

There  are  two  distinct  factions  of  the  negro  race, 
who  might  be  classed  as  Progressives  and  Re 
actionaries,  somewhat  like  the  politicians.  The 
Progressives,  led  by  Booker  T.  Washington  and 
with  industrial  education  as  the  material  idea,  are 
good,  active  citizens;  while  the  other  class  distinctly 
reactionary  in  every  way,  contend  for  more  equal 
rights,  privileges,  and  protection,  which  is  all  very 
logical,  indeed,  but  they  do  not  substantiate  their 
demands  with  any  concrete  policies;  depending 
largely  on  loud  demands,  and  are  too  much  given 
to  the  condemnation  of  the  entire  white  race  for 
the  depredations  of  a  few. 

It  is  true,  very  true  indeed,  that  the  American 
negro  does  not  receive  all  he  is  entitled  to  under 
the  constitution.  Volumes  could  be  filled  with  the 
many  injustices  he  has  to  suffer,  and  which  are  not 
right  before  God  and  man;  yet,  when  it  is  considered 
that  other  races  in  other  countries,  are  persecuted 
even  more  than  the  negro  is  in  parts  of  the  United 
States,  there  should  be  no  reason  why  the  American 
negro  allow  obvious  prejudice  to  prevent  his  taking 
advantage  of  opportunities  that  surround  him. 


252  TheConquest 

I  have  been  called  a  "radical,"  perhaps  I  am,  but 
for  years  I  have  felt  constrained  to  deplore  the  neg 
ligence  of  the  colored  race  in  America,  in  not  seizing 
the  opportunity  for  monopolizing  more  of  the  many 
million  acres  of  rich  farm  lands  in  the  great  north 
west,  where  immigrants  from  the  old  world  own 
many  of  acres  of  rich  farm  lands;  while  the  millions 
of  blacks,  only  a  few  hundred  miles  away,  are  as 
oblivious  to  it  all  as  the  heathen  of  Africa  are  to 
civilization. 

In  Iowa,  for  instance,  where  the  number  of  farms 
total  around  two  hundred  and  ten  thousand,  and 
include  the  richest  land  in  the  world,  only  thirty- 
seven  are  owned  and  operated  by  negroes,  while 
South  Dakota,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  North 
Dakota  have  many  less.  I  would  quote  these  facts 
to  my  father-in-law  until  I  was  darker  in  the  face 
than  I  naturally  am.  He  could  offer  no  counter 
argument  to  them,  but  continued  to  vituperate  the 
sins  of  the  white  people.  He  was  a  member  in 
good  standing  of  the  reactionary  faction  of  the 
negro  race,  the  larger  part  of  which  are  African  M.  E. 
ministers. 

Since  Booker  T.  Washington  came  into  promi 
nence  they  have  held  back  and  done  what  they  could 
to  impede  and  criticize  his  work,  and  cast  little 
stones  in  his  path  of  progress,  while  most  of  the 
younger  members  of  the  ministry  are  heart  and 
soul  in  accord  with  him  and  are  helping  all  they  can. 
The  older  members  are  almost  to  a  unit,  with  some 
exceptions,  of  course,  against  him  and  his  industrial 
educational  ideas. 

A  few  years  ago  a  professor  in  a  colored  university 


The    Conquest  253 

in  Georgia  wrote  a  book  which  had  a  tremendous 
sale.  He  claimed  in  his  book  that  the  public  had 
become  so  over-enthused  regarding  Booker  T. 
and  industrial  education,  that  the  colored  schools 
for  literary  training  were  almost  forgotten,  and, 
of  course,  were  severely  handicapped  by  a  lack  of 
funds.  His  was  not  criticism,  but  was  intended  to 
call  attention  of  the  public  to  the  number  of  colored 
schools  in  dire  need  of  funds,  which  on  account  of 
race  prejudice  in  the  south,  must  teach  classics. 
This  was  true,  although  industrial  education  was 
the  first  means  of  lifting  the  ignorant  masses  into 
a  state  of  good  citizenship.  Immediately  following 
the  publication  of  the  volume  referred  to,  thousands 
of  anti-Booker  T.'s  proceeded  to  place  the  writer 
as  representing  their  cause  and  formed  all  kinds  of 
clubs  in  his  honor,  or  gave  their  clubs  his  name. 
They  pretended  to  feel  and  to  have  everyone  else 
feel,  that  they  had  at  last  found  a  man  who  would 
lead  them  against  Booker  T.  and  industrial  educa 
tion. 

They  made  a  lot  of  noise  for  a  while,  which  soon 
died  out,  however,  as  the  author  of  the  book  was 
far  too  broad  minded  and  intelligent  in  every  way, 
to",  be  a  party  to  such  a  theory,  much  less,  to  lead 
a  lot  of  reckless  people,  who  never  had  and  never 
would  do  anything  for  the  uplifting  of  their  race. 

The  Reverend  and  I  could  not  in  any  way  agree. 
He  was  so  bitter  against  industrial  education  and  the 
educator's  name,  that  he  lost  all  composure  in 
trying  to  dodge  the  issue  in  our  argument,  and  found 
himself  up  against  a  brick  wall  in  attempting  to 
belittle  Mr.  Washington's  work.  Most  of  the 


254  TheConquest 

trouble  with  the  elder  was,  that  he  was  not  an  in 
telligent  man,  never  read  anything  but  negro  papers, 
and  was  interested  only  in  negro  questions.  He  was 
born  in  Arkansas,  but  maintained  false  ideas  about 
himself.  He  never  admitted  to  having  been  born 
a  slave,  but  he  was  nearly  sixty  years  of  age,  and 
sixty  years  ago  a  negro  born  in  Arkansas  would  have 
been  born  in  slavery,  unless  his  parents  had  pur 
chased  themselves.  If  this  had  been  the  case,  as 
vain  as  he  was,  I  felt  sure  he  would  have  had  much 
to  say  about  it.  He  must  have  been  born  a  slave, 
but  of  course  had  been  young  when  freed.  He  had 
lived  in  Springfield,  Missouri,  after  leaving  Ar 
kansas,  and  later  moving  to  Iowa,  where,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-seven  years,  he  was  ordained  a  min 
ister  and  started  to  preach,  which  he  had  continued 
for  thirty  years  or  more.  He  never  had  any  theo 
logical  training.  This  was  told  me  by  my  wife,  and 
she  added  despairingly: 

"Poor  papa!  He  is  just  ignorant  and  hard- 
headed,  and  all  his  life  has  been  associated  with 
hard-headed  negro  preachers.  He  reads  nothing 
but  radical  negro  papers  and  wants  everybody  to 
regard  him  as  being  a  brilliant  man,  and  you  might 
as  well  try  to  reason  with  two  trees,  or  a  brick  wall, 
as  to  try  to  reason  with  him  or  Ethel.  I'm  so  sorry 
papa  is  so  ignorant.  Mama  has  always  tried  to 
get  him  to  study,  but  he  would  never  do  it.  That's 
all." 

We  went  up  to  the  claims,  taking  the  elder  along. 
My  sister  had  married  and  her  husband  was  making 
hay  on  the  claims. 

I  might  have  been  more  patient  with  the  Rever- 


The    Conquest  255 

end,  if  he  had  not  been  so  full  of  pretense,  when 
being  plain  and  truthful  would  have  been  so  much 
better  and  easier.  I  had  quit  talking  to  him  about 
anything  serious  or  anything  that  interested  me, 
but  would  sit  and  listen  to  him  talk  of  the  big 
preachers,  and  the  bishops,  and  the  great  negroes 
who  had  died  years  before.  He  seemed  fond  of 
talking  of  what  they  had  done  in  the  past  and  what 
more  could  be  done  in  the  future,  if  the  white  people 
were  not  so  strongly  banded  against  them.  After 
this,  his  conversation  would  turn  to  pure  gossip, 
such  as  women  might  indulge  in.  He  talked  about 
the  women  belonging  to  the  churches  of  his  district, 
whether  they  were  living  right  or  wrong,  and  could 
tell  very  funny  stories  about  them. 

In  Dakota,  like  most  parts  of  the  west,  people 
who  have  any  money  at  all,  carry  no  cash  in  the 
pocket,  but  bank  their  money  and  use  checks. 
The  people  of  the  east  and  south,  that  is,  the  com 
mon  people,  seldom  have  a  checking  account,  and, 
with  the  masses  of  the  negroes,  no  account  at  all. 
During  the  summer  Orlean  had  sent  her  father  my 
checks  with  which  to  make  purchases.  The  Rever 
end  told  me  he  checked  altogether,  but  my  wife 
had  told  me  her  father's  ambition  had  always  been 
to  have  a  checking  account,  but  had  not  been  able 
to  do  so.  I  had  to  laugh  over  this,  for  it  was  no 
distinction  whatever.  We  discussed  the  banking 
business  and  the  elder  tried  to  tell  me  that  if  a 
national  bank  went  broke,  the  government  paid  all 
the  depositors,  while  if  it  was  a  state  bank,  the 
depositors  lost.  As  this  was  so  far  from  correct,  I 
explained  the  laws  that  governed  national  banks 


256  Tue    Conquest 

and  state  banks  alike,  as  regards  the  depositors,  in 
the  event  of  insolvency.  I  did  not  mean  to  bring 
out  such  a  storm  but  he  flew  into  an  accusation, 
exclaiming  excitedly: 

"That's  just  the  way  you  are!  You  must  have 
everything  your  way!  I  never  saw  such  a  contrary 
man!  You  won't  believe  anything!" 

"But,  Reverend/'  I  remonstrated.  "I  have  no 
'way'  in  this.  What  I  have  quoted  you  is  simply 
the  law,  the  law  governing  national  and  state  bank 
deposits,  that  you  can  read  up  on  yourself,  just  the 
same  as  I  have  done.  If  I  am  wrong,  I  very  humbly 
beg  your  pardon." 

The  poor  old  man  was  so  chagrined  he  seemed 
hardly  to  know  what  to  do,  though  this  was  but  one 
of  many  awkward  situations  due  to  his  ignorance 
of  the  most  simple  business  matters.  Another  time 
he  was  trying  to  listen  intelligently  to  a  conversation 
relating  to  the  development  of  the  northwest,  when 
I  had  occasion  to  speak  of  Jim  Hill.  Seeing  he 
did  not  look  enlightened,  I  repeated,  this  time 
referring  to  him  as  James  J.  Hill,  of  the  Great 
Northern,  and  inquired  if  he  had  not  heard  of  the 
pioneer  builder. 

"No,  I  never  heard  of  him,"  he  answered. 

"Never  heard  of  James  J.  Hill?"  I  exclaimed, 
in  surprise. 

"Why  should  I  have  heard  of  him,"  he  said, 
answering  my  exclamation  calmly. 

"0,  no  reason  at  all,"  I  concluded,  and  remained 
silent,  but  my  face  must  have  expressed  my  disgust 
at  his  ignorance,  and  he  a  public  man  for  thirty 
years. 


I 

PH 


The    Conquest  257 

After  this  conversation  I  forced  myself  to  remain 
quiet  and  listen  to  common  gossip.  Instead  of 
being  pleased  to  see  us  happy  and  Orlean  contented, 
he  would,  whenever  alone  with  her,  discourage  her 
in  every  way  he  could,  sighing  for  sympathy,  prais 
ing  Claves  and  telling  her  how  much  he  was  doing 
for  Ethel,  and  how  much  she,  Orlean,  was  sacrificing 
for  me. 

The  contest  trial  occurred  while  he  was  with  us, 
and  cost,  to  start  with,  an  attorney's  fee  of  fifty 
dollars,  in  addition  to  witnesses'  expenses.  I  had 
bought  a  house  in  Megory  and  we  moved  it  onto 
(Mean's  claim.  The  Reverend  helped  with  the 
moving,  but  he  was  so  discouraging  to  have  around. 
He  dug  up  all  the  skeletons  I  left  buried  in  M — pis 
and  bared  them  to  view,  in  deceitful  ways. 

We  had  decided  not  to  visit  Chicago  that  winter. 
The  crop  was  fair,  but  prices  were  low  on  oats  and 
corn,  and  my  crops  consisted  mostly  of  those  cereals. 
I  tried  to  explain  this  to  the  Reverend  when  he 
talked  of  what  we  would  have,  Christmas,  in 
Chicago. 

"Now,  don't  let  that  worry  you,  my  boy,"  he 
would  say  breezily.  "I'll  attend  to  that!  I'll 
attend  to  that!" 

"Attend  to  what?"  I  asked. 

"Why,  I'll  send  both  of  you  a  ticket." 

"0,  really,  Reverend,  I  thank  you  ever  so  much, 
but  I  could  not  think  of  accepting  it,  and  you  must 
not  urge  it.  We  are  not  coming  to  Chicago,  and  I 
wish  you  would  not  talk  of  it  so  much  with  Orlean," 
I  would  almost  plead  with  him.  "She  is  a  good 
girl  and  we  are  happy  together.  She  wants  to  help 
17 


258  The    Conquest 

me,  but  she's  only  a  weak  woman,  and  being  so  far 
away  from  colored  people,  she  will  naturally  feel 
lonesome  and  want  to  visit  home." 

He  paid  no  more  attention  to  me  than  if  I  had 
never  spoken.  In  fact,  he  talked  more  about 
Chicago  than  ever,  saying  a  dozen  times  a  day: 

"Yes,  children,  I'll  send  you  the  money." 

I  finally  became  angry  and  told  him  I  would  not, 
under  any  circumstances  whatever,  accept  such 
charity,  and  that  what  my  money  was  invested  in, 
represented  a  value  of  more  than  thirty  thousand 
dollars,  and  how  could  I  be  expected  to  condescend 
to  accept  charity  from  him. 

He  had  told  me  once  that  he  never  had  as  much 
as  two  hundred  dollars  at  one  time  in  his  life.  I 
did  not  want  a  row,  but  as  far  as  I  was  concerned, 
I  did  not  want  anything  from  him,  for  I  felt  that  he 
would  throw  it  up  to  me  the  rest  of  his  life.  I  was 
convinced  that  he  was  a  vain  creature,  out  for  a 
show,  and  I  fairly  despised  him  for  it. 

At  last  he  went  home  and  Orlean  and  I  got  down 
to  business,  moving  more  of  our  goods  onto  the 
claim,  and  spending  about  one-third  of  the  time 
there.  We  intended  moving  everything  as  soon 
as  the  corn  was  gathered.  As  Christmas  drew  near, 
her  folks  wrote  they  were  looking  for  her  to  come 
home,  the  Reverned  having  told  them  that  she  was 
coming,  and  that  he  was  going  to  send  her  the  money 
for  her  to  come.  Her  mother  wrote  about  it  in 
letter,  saying  she  didn't  think  it  was  right.  Just 
before  Christmas,  she  wrote  that  maybe  if  she 
wrote  Cousin  Sam  he  would  send  her  the  money. 
Cousin  Sam  was  a  porter  in  a  down  town  saloon. 


The    Conquest  259 

I  felt  so  mortified  that  I  swore  I  would  never  again 
have  anything  to  do  with  her  family.  They  never 
regarded  my  feelings  nor  our  relations  in  the  least, 
but  wrote  a  letter  every  few  days  about  who  was  com 
ing  to  the  house  to  see  Orlean  Christmas,  of  who 
was  going  to  have  her  at  their  homes  for  dinner 
when  she  came  home,  until  the  poor  girl,  with  a 
child  on  the  way,  was  as  helpless  as  a  baby,  trying 
to  be  honest  with  all  concerned.  It  had  never  been 
her  lot  to  take  the  defensive. 

My  sister  came  down  from  her  claim  and  took 
Orlean  home  with  her.  While  she  was  in  Tipp 
county  a  letter  came  fom  her  father  for  her,  and 
thinking  it  might  be  a  matter  needing  immediate 
attention,  I  opened  it  and  found  a  money  order  for 
eighteen  dollars,  sent  from  Cairo,  with  instructions 
when  to  start,  and  he  would  be  home  to  meet  her 
when  she  arrived,  suggesting  that  I  could  come 
later. 

I  was  about  the  maddest  man  in  Megory  when 
I  was  through  reading  the  letter,  fairly  flying  to  the 
post  office,  enclosing  the  money  order  and  all,  with 
a  curt  little  note  telling  what  I  had  done;  that 
Orlean  was  out  on  her  claim  and  would  be  home  in 
a  few  days,  but  that  we  were  not  coming  to  Chicago. 
I  would  have  liked  to  tell  him  that  I  was  running 
my  own  house,  but  did  not  do  so.  I  was  hauling 
shelled  corn  to  a  feeder  in  town,  when  Orlean  came. 
She  was  driving  a  black  horse,  hitched  to  a  little 
buggy  I  had  purchased  for  her,  and  I  met  her  on 
the  road.  I  got  out  and  kissed  her  fondly,  then  told 
what  I  had  done.  My  love  for  her  had  been  growing. 
She  had  been  gone  a  week  and  I  was  so  glad  to  see 


260  The    Conquest 

her  and  have  her  back  with  me.  I  took  the  corn 
on  into  town  and  when  I  returned  home  she  had 
cleaned  up  the  house,  prepared  a  nice  supper  and 
had  killed  a  chicken  for  the  next  day,  which  was 
Christmas.  She  then  confessed  that  she  had 
written  her  father  that  he  could  send  the  money. 

"Now,  dear,"  she  said,  as  though  a  little  fright 
ened,  "I'm  so  sorry,  for  I  know  papa's  going  to 
make  a  big  row." 

And  he  did,  fairly  burned  the  mail  with  scorching 
letters  denouncing  my  action  and  threatening  what 
he  was  liable  to  do  about  it,  which  was  to  come  out 
and  attend  to  me.  I  judged  he  did  not  get  much 
sympathy,  however,  for  a  little  while  after 
Orlean  had  written  him  he  cooled  down  and  wrote 
that  whatever  Orlean  and  I  agreed  on  was  all  right 
with  him,  though  I  knew  nothing  of  what  her  letter 
contained. 

The  holidays  passed  without  further  event, 
excepting  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Ewis,  to  my  wife,  in 
which  she  said  she  was  glad  that  she  had  stayed  in 
Dakota  and  stuck  by  her  husband.  The  letter 
seemed  a  little  strange,  though  I  thought  nothing 
of  it  at  the  time.  A  few  months  later  I  was  to  know 
what  it  meant,  which  was  more  than  I  could  then 
have  dreamed  of.  We  were  a  lone  colored  couple, 
in  a  country  miles  from  any  of  our  kind,  honest, 
hopeful  and  happy;  we  had  no  warning,  nor  if  we 
had,  would  we  have  believed.  Why,  indeed,  should 
any  young  couple  feel  that  some  person,  especially 
one  near  and  dear,  should  be  planning  to  put 
asunder  what  God  had  joined  together? 

It    was    now    the    last    of   February   and    we 


TheConquest  261 

expected  our  first-born  in  March.  My  wife  had 
grown  exceedingly  fretful.  Grandma  was  with  us, 
having  made  proof  on  her  homestead.  Orlean  kept 
worrying  and  wanting  to  go  to  her  claim,  talking 
so  much  about  it,  that  I  finally  talked  with  some 
neighbor  friends  and  they  advised  that  it  would 
be  better  to  take  her  to  the  homestead,  for  if  she 
continued  to  fret  so  much  over  wanting  to  be  there, 
when  the  child  was  born,  it  might  be  injured  in  some 
way.  When  the  weather  became  favorable,  I 
wrapped  her  and  grandma  up  comfortably,  and 
sent  them  to  the  claim  in  the  spring  wagon,  while 
I  followed  with  a  load  of  furniture,  making  the  trip 
in  a  day  and  a  half.  We  had  close  neighbors  who 
said  they  would  look  after  her  while  I  went  back 
after  the  stock.  A  lumber  yard  was  selling  out 
in  Kirk,  and  I  bought  the  coal  shed,  which  was  strongly 
built,  being  good  for  barns  and  granaries.  Cutting 
it  into  two  parts,  I  loaded  one  part  onto  two  wagons 
and  started  the  sixty  miles  to  the  claim.  A  thaw 
set  in  about  the  time  I  had  the  building  as  far  as 
my  homestead  south  of  Megory.  I  decided  to  leave 
it  there  and  tear  down  my  old  buildings  and  move 
them,  instead.  I  received  a  letter  from  Orlean 
saying  they  were  getting  along  nicely,  excepting 
that  the  stove  smoked  considerably;  and  for  me 
to  be  very  careful  with  Red  and  not  let  him  kick 
me.  Red  was  a  mule  I  had  bought  the  summer 
before  and  was  a  holy  terror  for  kicking. 

My  sister  arrived  that  night  from  a  visit  to 
Kansas,  and  on  hearing  from  Orlean  that  she  was 
all  right,  I  sent  my  sister  on  to  her  claim,  and  hiring 
more  men,  moved  the  balance  of  the  building  onto 


262  The    Conquest 

the  old  farm,  tore  down  the  old  buildings,  loaded 
them  onto  wagons,  and  finally  got  started  again  for 
Tipp  county.  That  was  on  Saturday.  The  wind 
blew  a  gale,  making  me  feel  lonely  and  far  from  home. 
Sunday  morning  I  started  early  out  of  Colone 
planning  to  get  home  that  night,  but  the  front  axle 
broke  and  by  the  time  we  got  another  it  was  growing 
late.  We  started  again  and  traveled  about  two 
miles,  when  the  tongue  broke,  and  by  the  time  that 
was  mended  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon.  About 
six  o'clock  we  pulled  into  Victor,  tired  and  weary. 
The  next  day,  when  about  five  miles  from  home,  we 
met  one  of  the  neighbors,  who  informed  me  that  he 
had  tried  to  get  me  over  the  phone  all  along  the 
way;  that  my  wife  had  been  awfully  sick  and  that 
the  baby  had  been  born,  dead.  It  struck  me  like 
a  hammer,  and  noting  my  frightened  look,  he  spoke 
up  quickly: 

"But  she's  all  right  now.  She  had  two  doctors 
and  didn't  lack  for  attention." 

On  the  way  home  I  was  so  nervous  that  I  could 
hardly  wait  for  the  horses  to  get  there.  I  would 
not  have  been  away  at  this  time  for  anything  in  the 
world.  I  knew  Orlean  would  forgive  me,  but  we 
had  not  told  her  father.  Orlean  had  told  her 
mother  and  thought  she  would  tell  him.  He  made 
so  much  ado  about  everything,  we  hoped  to  avoid 
the  tire  of  his  burdensome  letters,  but  now,  with  the 
baby  born  during  my  absence,  and  it  dead,  when 
we  had  so  many  plans  for  its  future.  It  was  to 
have  been  the  first  colored  child  born  on  the  Little 
Crow,  and  we  thought  we  were  going  to  make  his 
tory. 


The    Conquest  263 

When  I  got  to  the  claim  I  was  weak  in  every 
way.  My  wife  seemed  none  the  worse,  but  my 
emotions  were  intense  when  I  saw  the  little  dead 
boy.  Poor  little  fellow!  As  he  lay  stiff  and  cold 
I  could  see  the  image  of  myself  in  his  features.  My 
wife  noticed  my  look  and  said : 

"It  is  just  like  you,  dear!" 

That  night  we  buried  the  baby  on  the  west  side 
of  the  draw.  It  should  have  been  on  the  east,  where 
the  only  trees  in  the  township,  four  spreading 
willows,  cast  their  shadows. 

"Well,  dear,  we  have  each  other,"  I  comforted 
her  as  she  cried. 

Between  sobs  she  tried  to  tell  me  how  she  had 
prayed  for  it  to  live,  and  since  it  had  looked  so  much 
like  me,  she  thought  her  heart  would  break. 

When  the  child  was  born  they  had  sent  a  telegram 
to  her  father  which  read: 

"  Baby  born  dead.    Am  well." 

This  was  his  first  knowledge  of  it.  We  received 
a  telegram  that  night  that  he  was  on  the  way  and 
the  next  day  he  arrived,  bringing  Ethel  with  him. 
When  he  got  out  of  the  livery  rig  that  brought  them 
I  could  see  Satan  in  his  face.  A  chance  had  come 
to  him  at  last.  It  seemed  to  say: 

"Oh,  now  I'll  fix  you.  Away  when  the  child  was 
born,  eh?" 

His  very  expression  seemed  jubilant.  He  had 
longed  for  some  chance  to  get  me  and  now  it  had 
arrived.  He  did  not  speak  to  me,  but  bounded 
into  the  room  where  my  wife  was,  and  she  must 
have  read  the  same  thing  in  his  expression,  for, 
as  he  talked  about  it  later,  I  learned  the  first  thing 
she  said  was: 


264  TheConquest 

"Now,  papa.  You  must  not  abuse  Oscar.  He 
loves  me  and  is  kind  and  doing  the  best  he  can,  but 
he  is  all  tied  up  with  debt." 

He  would  tell  this  every  few  hours  but  I  could 
see  the  evil  of  his  heart  in  the  expression  of  his  eyes, 
leering  at  me,  with  hatred  and  malice  in  every  look. 
He  and  Ethel  turned  loose  in  about  an  hour.  From 
that  time  on,  it  was  the  same  as  being  in  the  house 
with  two  human  devils.  They  nearly  raised  the 
roof  with  their  quarreling.  Of  the  two,  the  Rever 
end  was  the  worst,  for  he  was  cunning  and  deceitful, 
pretending  in  one  sentence  to  love,  and  in  the  next 
taking  a  thrust  at  my  emotions  and  home.  I  shall 
never  forget  his  evil  eyes. 

Ethel  would  cry  out  in  her  ringing  voice: 

"You're  practical!  You're  practical!  You  and 
your  Booker  T.  Washington  ideas!" 

Then  she  would  tear  into  a  string  of  abusive  words. 
One  day,  after  the  doctor  had  been  to  the  house,  he 
called  me  aside  and  said: 

"Oscar,  your  wife  is  physically  well  enough,  but 
is  mentally  sick.  Something  should  be  done  so 
that  she  may  be  more  quiet." 

"Is  she  quite  out  of  danger?"  I  asked. 

He  replied  that  she  was.  That  night  I  told  my 
wife  of  our  conversation  and  the  next  day  I  left  for 
Megory  county. 


The    Conquest  265 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

SANCTIMONIOUS  HYPOCRISY 

WAS  preparing  to  seed  the  biggest  crop 
I  had  ever  sown.  With  Orlean  helping 
me,  by  bringing  the  dinner  to  the  field 
and-  doing  some  chores,  during  the  fall 
we  had  put  the  farm  into  winter  wheat  and  I  had 
rented^the^other  Megpry  county  farm.  I  hired  a 
steaming,  to  break  two  hundred  acres  of  prairie 
on  the  Tipp  county  homesteads,  for  which  I  was  to 
pay  three  dollars  an  acre  and  haul  the  coal  from 
Colone,  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles,  the  track 
having  been  laid  to  that  point  on  the  extension  west 
from  Calias. 

I  intended  to  break  one  hundred  acres  with  my 
horses  and  put  it  into  flax.  I  had  figured,  that  with 
a  good  crop,  it  would  go  a  long  way  toward  helping  me 
get  out  of  debt.  I  worked  away  feverishly,  for  I 
had  gotten  deeper  into  debt  by  helping  my  folks 
get  the  land  in  Tipp  county. 

After  putting  in  fifteen  acres  of  spring  wheat,  I 
hauled  farm  machinery  to  my  sister's  claim,  and 
then  began  hauling  coal  from  Colone.  It  was  on 
Friday.  I  was  driving  two  horses  and  two  mules 
abreast,  hitched  to  a  wagon  loaded  with  fifty  hun 
dred  pounds  of  coal,  and  trailing  another  with  thirty 
hundred  pounds,  when  one  of  the  mules  got  unruly, 
going  down  a  hill,  swerved  to  one  side,  and  in  less 
time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it,  both  wagons  had  turned 
turtle  over  a  fifteen-foot  embankment  and  I  was 
under  eight  thousand  pounds  of  coal,  with  both 


266  TheConquest 

wagons  upside  down  and  the  hind  wagonbox  splin 
tered  almost  to  kindling.  That  I  was  not  hurt 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  grade  had  been  built 
but  a  few  days  previously,  had  not  settled  and  the 
loose  dirt  had  prevented  a  crash.  I  attempted  to 
jump  when  I  saw  the  oncoming  disaster,  but  caught 
my  foot  in  the  brake  rope  which  pulled  me  under 
the  loads. 

A  day  and  a  half  was  lost  in  getting  the  wreck 
cleared  so  I  could  proceed  to  my  sister's  claim,  from 
where  I  had  intended  going  home  to  my  wife,  fifteen 
miles  away.  I  had  left  the  Reverend  in  charge 
after  he  and  Ethel  had  said  about  all  the  evil  things 
words  could  express,  and  he,  finding  that  I  was 
inclined  to  be  peaceful,  had  shown  his  hatred  of  me 
in  every  conceivable  manner,  until  Orlean,  who 
could  never  bear  noise  or  quarreling,  decided  it 
would  be  better  that  I  go  away  and  perhaps  he 
would  quit.  I  did  not  get  home  that  trip  on  account 
of  the  delay  caused  by  the  wreck,  but  sent  my  sister 
with  a  letter,  stating  that  I  would  come  home  the 
next  trip,  and  describing  the  accident. 

I  went  back  to  Colone,  and  while  eating  supper 
someone  told  me  three  colored  people  were  in  Colone, 
and  one  of  them  was  a  sick  woman.  I  could  hardly 
believe  what  I  heard.  My  appetite  vanished  and 
I  arose  from  the  table,  paid  the  cashier  and  left  the 
place,  going  to  the  hotel  around  the  corner,  and  there 
sat  my  wife.  I  went  to  her  side  and  whispered : 

"Orlean,  what  in  heaven's  name  are  you  doing 
here?  And  why  did  you  come  out  in  such  weather." 

She  was  still  very  sick  and  wheezed  when  she 
answered,  trembling  at  the  same  time: 


The    Conquest  267 

"You  said  I  could  go  home  until  I  got  well." 

"Yes,  I  know,"  I  answered,  controlling  my 
excitement.  "But  to  leave  home  in  such  weather 
is  foolhardy." 

It  had  been  snowing  all  day  and  was  slippery 
and  cold  outside. 

"And,  besides,"  I  argued,  "you  should  never 
have  left  home  until  I  returned.  Didn't  you  get 
my  letter?"  I  inquired,  looking  at  her  with  a 
puzzled  expression. 

"No,"  she  replied,  appearing  bewildered.  "But 
I  saw  Ollie  hand  something  to  papa." 

I  then  recalled  that  I  had  addressed  the  letter 
to  him. 

"But,"  I  went  on,  "I  wrote  you  a  letter  last  week 
that  you  should  have  received  not  later  than  Satur 
day." 

"I —  I —  I  never  received  it,"  she  answered,  and 
seemed  frightened. 

I  could  not  understand  what  had  taken  place. 
I  had  left  my  wife  two  weeks  before,  feeling  that  I 
held  her  affections,  and  had  thought  only  of  the 
time  we'd  be  settled  at  last,  with  her  well  again. 

The  Reverend  had  said  so  much  about  her  going 
home  that  I  had  consented,  but  had  stipulated  that 
I  would  wait  until  she  was  better  and  would  then 
see  whether  we  could  afford  it  or  not. 

Suddenly  a  horrible  suspicion  struck  me  with 
such  force  as  almost  to  stagger  me,  but  calming 
myself,  I  decided  to  talk  to  the  elder.  He  came  in 
about  that  time  and  looked  very  peculiar  when  he 
saw  me. 

The  town  was  full  of  people  that  night  and  he  had 


268  The    Conquest 

some  difficulty  in  getting  a  room,  but  had  finally 
succeeded  in  getting  one  in  a  small  rooming  house, 
and  to  it  we  now  helped  Orlean,  who  was  anything 
but  well. 

As  we  carried  her,  I  could  hardly  suppress 
the  words  that  came  to  my  lips,  to  say  to  him  when 
we  got  into  the  room,  but  thought  it  best  not  to  say 
anything.  Ethel,  who  was  sitting  there  when  we 
entered,  never  deigned  to  speak  to  me,  but  her  eyes 
conveyed  the  enmity  within.  The  Reverend  was 
saying  many  kind  words,  but  I  was  convinced  they 
were  all  pretense  and  that  he  was  up  to  some  dirty 
trick.  I  was  further  convinced  that  he  not  only  was 
an  arrant  hypocrite,  but  an  enemy  of  humanity  as 
well,  and  utterly  heartless.  When  he  and  Ethel 
had  entered  our  home  three  weeks  before,  neither 
shed  a  tear  nor  showed  any  emotion  whatever,  and 
had  not  even  referred  to  the  death  of  the  baby,  but 
set  up  a  quarrel  that  never  ceased  after  I  went  away. 

"Reverend,"  I  said.  "Will  you  and  Ethel  kindly 
leave  the  room  for  a  few  minutes?  I  would  like 
to  speak  with  Orlean  alone." 

They  never  deigned  to  move  an  inch,  but  finally 
the  Reverend  said: 

"We'll  not  leave  unless  Orlean  says  so." 

In  that  moment  he  appeared  the  most  contemp 
tible  person  I  ever  knew.  My  wife  began  crying 
and  said  she  wanted  to  see  her  mother,  that  she 
was  sick,  and  wanted  to  go  home  until  she  got  well. 
I  was  angry  all  over  and  turned  on  the  preacher, 
exclaiming  hotly: 

"Rev.  McCraline,  I  left  you  in  charge  of  my  wife 
out  of  respect  for  you  as  her  father,  but,"  here  I 


The    Conquest  269 

thundered  in  a  terrible  voice,  "you  have  been  up  to 
some  low-lived  trick  and  if  I  thought  you  were 
trying  to  alienate  my  wife's  affections,  or  had  done 
so,  I  would  stop  this  thing  right  here  and  sue  you,  if 
you  were  worth  anything." 

At  this  he  flushed  up  and  answered  angrily : 

"  I'm  worth  as  much  as  you." 

He  was  a  poor  hand  at  anything  but  quarreling, 
but  knowing  we'd  make  a  scene,  I  said  no  more. 
It  was  a  long  night,  Orlean  was  restless,  and  wheezed 
and  coughed  all  through  the  night. 

I  have  wondered  since  why  I  did  not  take  the 
bull  by  the  horns  and  settle  the  matter  then,  but 
guess  it  was  for  the  sake  of  peace,  that  I've  accepted 
the  situation  and  remained  quiet.  I  decided  it 
would  be  best  to  let  her  go  home  without  a  big  row, 
and  when  she  had  recovered,  she  could  come  home, 
and  all  would  be  well. 

My  wife  had  informed  me  that  Claves  kept  up  the 
house,  paid  for  the  groceries  and  half  of  the  install 
ments,  while  her  father  paid  for  the  other  half,  but 
never  bought  anything  to  eat,  nor  sent  any  money 
home,  only  bringing  eggs,  butter,  and  chickens 
when  he  came  into  the  city  three  or  four  times  a 
year.  But  Claves'  name  was  not  on  the  contract 
for  the  home,  only  her  father's  name  appearing. 
Her  father  was  extremely  vain  and  I  had  not  pleased 
him  because  I  was  independent,  and  he  did  not  like 
independent  people.  She  also  told  me  that  her 
father  always  kept  up  a  row  when  he  was  at  home, 
but  always  charged  it  to  everybody  else. 

The  next  morning,  just  before  we  started  for  the 
depot,  I  said: 


270  The    Conquest 

"I'll  step  into  the  bank  and  get  a  check  cashed 
and  give  Orlean  some  money.  I  haven't  much,  but 
I  want  her  to  have  her  own  money." 

"Never  mind,  my  son,  just  never  mind.  I  can 
get  along,"  said  the  Reverend,  keeping  his  head 
turned  and  appearing  ill  at  ease,  though  I  thought 
nothing  of  that  at  the  time. 

"I  wouldn't  think  of  such  a  thing!"  I  answered, 
protesting  that  he  was  not  able  to  pay  her  way. 
"I  wouldn't  think  of  allowing  her  to  accept  it." 

"Now!  Now!  Why  do  you  go  on  so?  Haven't 
I  told  you  I  have  enough?"  he  answered  in  a  tenor 
voice,  trying  to  appear  winsome. 

Feeling  that  I  knew  his  disposition,  I  said  no  more, 
but  as  we  were  passing  the  bank,  I  started  to  enter, 
saying  to  my  wife: 

"I  am  going  to  get  you  some  money." 

She  caught  me  by  the  sleeve  and  cried  excitedly: 
"No!  No!  No!  Don't,  because  I  have  money." 
Hesitating  a  moment  and  repeating,  "I  have 
money." 

"You  have  money?"  I  repeated,  appearing  to 
misunderstand  her  statement.  "How  did  you  get 
money?" 

"Had  a  check  cashed,"  she  answered  nervously. 

"0, 1  see!"  I  said.     "How  much?" 

"Fifty  dollars,"  she  answered,  clinging  to  my 
arm. 

"Good  gracious,  Orlean!"  I  exclaimed,  near  to 
fright.  "We  haven't  got  that  much  in  the  bank." 

"Oh!  Oh!  I  didn't  want  to,"  and  then  called  to  her 
father,  who  was  just  coming  with  the  baggage: 
"Papa!  Papa!  You  give  Oscar  back  that  money. 


The    Conquest  271 

He  hasn't  got  it.  Oh!  Oh!  I  didn't  want  to  do  this, 
but  you  said  it  would  be  all  right,  and  that  the 
cashier  at  the  bank,  where  you  got  it  cashed,  called 
up  the  bank  in  Calias  and  said  the  check  was  all 
right.  Oh!  Oh!"  she  went  on,  beside  herself  with 
excitement,  and  holding  her  arms  out  tremblingly 
and  repeating:  "I  didn't  want  to  do  this." 

I  can  see  the  look  in  his  face  to  this  day.  All 
the  hypocrisy  and  pretense  vanished,  leaving  him 
a  weak,  shame-faced  creature,  and  looking  from  one 
side  to  the  other  stammered  out: 

"I  didn't  do  it!  I  didn't  do  it!  You—  You- 
You  know,  you  told  her  she  should  write  a  check  for 
any  money  she  needed  and  she  did  it,  she  did  it." 

Here  again  my  desire  for  peace  over-ruled  my 
good  judgment.  Instead  of  stopping  the  matter 
then  and  there,  I  spoke  up  gravely,  saying: 

"I  don't  mind  Orlean's  going  home.  In  fact,  I 
want  her  to  go  home  and  to  have  anything  to  help 
her  get  well  and  please  her,  but  I  haven't  the  money 
to  spare.  Her  sickness,  with  a  doctor  coming  into 
the  country  twice  daily,  has  been  very  expensive, 
and  we  just  have  not  the  money,  that  is  all." 

When  he  saw  I  was  not  going  to  put  a  stop  to  it, 
he  took  courage  and  spoke  sneakingly: 

"Well,  the  man  in  the  bank  at  Carlin  called  up 
the  bank  of  Calias,  and  they  said  the  money  was 
there." 

"0,"  I  said,  "as  far  as  that  goes,  I  had  five  hun 
dred  dollars  there  last  week,  it  has  all  been  checked 
out,  but  some  of  the  checks  likely  are  still  out." 

I  took  twenty-five  dollars  of  the  money  and  gave 
Orlean  twenty-five  dollars.  Her  ticket  was  eighteen 


272  The    Conquest 

dollars.  I  went  with  them  as  far  as  Calias,  to  see 
how  my  account  stood.  I  kissed  Orlean  good-bye 
before  leaving  the  train  at  Calias,  then  I  went  di 
rectly  to  the  bank  and  deposited  the  twenty-five 
dollars.  The  checks  I  had  given  had  come  in  that 
morning,  and  even  after  depositing  the  twenty-five, 
I  found  my  account  was  still  overdrawn  thirty 
dollars. 


The    Conquest  273 

CHAPTER  XXXIX 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  END 

WAITED  to  hear  from  my  wife  in  Chicago 
but  at  the  end  of  two  weeks  I  had  not 
heard  from  her,  although  I  had  written 
three  letters,  and  a  week  later  I  jour 
neyed  to  Colone  and  took  a  train  for  Chicago. 
When  I  called  at  the  house  the  next  day  her  mother 
admitted  me,  but  did  not  offer  to  shake  hands. 
She  informed  me  Orlean  was  out,  but  that  it  was  the 
first  time  she  had  been  out,  as  she  had  been  very 
sick  since  coming  home.  When  I  asked  her  why 
Orlean  had  not  written,  she  said : 

"  I  understand  you  have  mistreated  my  child/' 

" Mistreated  Orlean!"  I  exclaimed.  Then,  look 
ing  into  her  eyes,  I  asked  slowly,  "Did  Orlean  tell 
you  that?" 

"No/'  she  answered,  looking  away,  "but  my 
husband  did." 

Gradually,  I  learned  from  her,  that  the  Reverend 
had  circulated  a  report  that  Orlean  was  at  death's 
door  when  he  came  to  her  bedside;  if  he  had  not 
arrived  when  he  did,  she  would  have  died,  and  when 
she  was  well  enough  to  travel,  he  brought  her  home. 

It  was  at  last  clear  to  me,  as  I  sat  with  bowed 
head  and  feeling  bewildered  and  unable  to  speak. 
I  recalled  the  words  of  Miss  Ankin  eighteen  months 
before,  "the  biggest  rascal  in  the  Methodist  church." 
I  remembered  the  time  I  had  called  and  saw  him 
driving  his  wife,  who  was  now  sitting  before  me, 
and  the  rest  of  it.  I  saw  all  that  he  had  done.  He 
18 


274  The    Conquest 

had  abused  this  woman  for  thirty  years,  and  here 
and  now,  out  of  spite  and  personal  malice,  because 
I  had  criticized  the  action  of  certain  members  of  the 
race,  and  eulogized  the  work  of  Booker  T.  Washing 
ton,  whom  the  elder,  along  with  many  of  the  older 
members  of  the  ministry,  hated  and  would  not 
allow  his  name  mentioned  in  his  home,  I  was  to  lose 
my  wife,  to  pay  the  penalty. 

He  had  disliked  me  from  the  beginning,  but  there 
had  been  no  way  he  could  get  even.  He  was  "get 
ting  even,"  spiting  me,  securing  my  wife  by  coercion, 
and  now  spreading  a  report  thaf:  I  was  mistreating 
her,  in  order  to  justify  his  action. 

"Mrs.  McCraline,"  I  said,  sneaking  in  a  firm 
tone,  "Do  you  believe  this?" 

Evading  the  direct  question,  she  answered : 

"You  should  never  have  placed  yourself  or  Orlean 
in  such  a  position."  And  then  I  understood.  When 
Orlean  had  written  her  mother  of  the  coming  of  the 
child,  Mrs.  McCraline  had  not  written  or  told  the 
Reverend  about  it. 

I  now  understood,  further,  that  she  never  told 
him  anything,  and  never  gave  him  any  information 
if  she  could  avoid  it.  What  my  wife  had  told  me 
was  proving  itself,  that  is,  that  they  got  along  with 
her  father  by  avoiding  any  friction.  He  could  not 
be  reasoned  with,  but  I  could  not  believe  any  man 
would  be  mean  enough  to  deliberately  break  up  a 
home,  and  that  the  home  of  his  daughter,  for  so 
petty  a  reason.  It  became  clear  to  me  that  he  ruled 
by  making  himself  so  disagreeable,  that  everyone 
near  gave  in  to  him,  to  have  peace. 

He  had  only  that  morning  gone  to  his  work. 


The    Conquest  275 

On  hearing  me,  Ethel  came  downstairs  and  called 
up  Claves.  A  few  minutes  later  her  mother  called 
me,  saying  Claves  wanted  to  talk  to  me.  When  I 
took  the  receiver  and  called  "hello,"  he  answered 
like  a  crazy  man.  I  said: 

"What  is  the  matter?  I  do  not  understand  what 
you  are  talking  about." 

"What  are  you  doing  in  my  house,  after  what  you 
said  about  me?"  he  shouted  excitedly. 

"Said  about  you?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  "I  hear  you  treated  my  wife 
like  a  dog,  after  I  sent  her  out  there  to  attend  to 
your  wife,  called  me  all  kinds  of  bad  names,  and  said 
I  was  only  a  fifteen-cent  jockey." 

"Treated  your  wife  ugly,  and  called  you  a  jockey," 
here  I  came  to  and  said  to  myself  that  here  was 
some  more  of  the  elder's  work,  but  I  answered 
Claves:  "I  haven't  the  faintest  idea  of  what  you 
are  talking  about.  I  treated  your  wife  with  the 
utmost  courtesy  while  she  was  in  Dakota,  I  never 
mentioned  your  name  in  any  such  terms  as  you 
refer  to,  and  I  am  wholly  at  a  loss  to  understand 
the  condition  of  affairs  I  find  here.  I  am  confused 
over  it  all." 

"Well,"  he  answered,  "suppose  you  come  down 
to  where  I  work  and  we  will  talk  it  over." 

"I'll  do  that,"  I  answered,  and  went  down  town 
where  he  worked  on  Wabash  avenue. 

One  thing  I  had  noticed  about  him  was,  that 
while  he  was  ignorant,  he  was  at  least  an  honest, 
hard-working  fellow,  but  was  kept  in  fear  by  his 
wife  and  the  elder.  I  saw  after  talking  to  him,  that 
he,  like  Mrs.  McCraline,  did  not  believe  a  word  of 


276  The    Conquest 

what  the  Reverend  had  told  about  my  mistreating 
his  daughter,  and  that  he  submitted  to  the  elder, 
as  the  rest  of  the  family  did,  for  the  sake  of  peace. 
But  they  were  all  trained  and  avoided  saying  any 
thing  about  the  elder. 

During  the  conversation  with  Claves  he  told  me 
he  kept  up  the  house,  paid  all  the  grocery  bills,  and 
half  the  payments.  He  had  been  advanced  to  a 
salary  of  eighteen  dollars  a  week  and  seemed  to  be 
well  liked  by  the  management. 

I  went  to  a  hotel  run  by  colored  people,  and  at 
about  seven-thirty  that  evening,  called  up  the  house 
to  see  if  Orlean  had  returned.  She  came  to  the 
phone  but  before  we  had  said  much,  were  accident 
ally  cut  off.  Hearing  her  voice  excited  me,  and  I 
wanted  to  see  her,  so  hung  up  the  receiver  and 
hurried  to  the  house,  some  ten  or  twelve  blocks 
away.  When  I  rang  the  bell,  Claves  came  to  the 
door.  Before  he  could  let  me  enter,  Ethel  came 
running  down  the  stairs,  screaming  as  loudly  as 
she  could: 

"Don't  let  him  in!  Don't  let  him  in!  You 
know  what  papa  said!  Don't  you  let  him  in," 
and  continued  screaming  as  loud  as  possible. 

I  heard  my  wife  crying  in  the  back  room.  Claves 
had  his  hat  on  and  came  outside,  saying: 

"For  God's  sake,  Ethel,  hush  up!  You'll  have 
all  the  neighborhood  out." 

She  continued  to  scream,  and  to  stop  her,  he 
closed  the  door.  We  went  together  on  State  street 
and  I  took  a  few  Scotch  highballs  and  cocktails 
to  try  to  forget  it. 

The  next  day  being  Sunday,  Claves  said  he  would 


The    Conquest  277 

try  to  get  Ethel  off  to  church  and  then  I  could  slip 
in  and  see  Orlean,  but  she  refused  to  go  and  when 
I  called  up,  about  the  time  I  thought  she  would  be 
gone,  she  was  on  guard.  My  wife  was  at  the  phone 
and  told  me  to  come  over  and  she  would  try  to  slip 
out,  but  when  I  called,  Ethel  had  made  her  go  to  bed. 
It  seemed  that  she  ran  the  house  and  all  in  it,  when 
the  elder  was  away.  Mrs.  McCraline  came  outside, 
took  me  by  the  arm  and  led  me  over  to  Groveland 
park,  near  the  lake.  Here  she  unfolded  a  plan 
whereby  I  should  find  a  room  nearby,  and  she  would 
slip  Orlean  over  to  it,  but  this  proved  as  unsuccessful 
as  the  other  attempt,  to  steal  a  march  on  Ethel. 
She  held  the  fort  and  I  did  not  get  to  see  my  wife 
but  one  hour  during  the  four  days  I  was  in  Chicago. 
That  was  on  Tuesday  following,  after  Claves  had 
tried  every  trick  and  failed  to  get  Ethel  away.  This 
time  he  succeeded  by  telling  her  I  had  left  town, 
but  when  I  had  been  in  the  house  an  hour,  Ethel 
came  and  started  screaming.  I  had  to  get  out  before 
she  would  stop.' 

The  next  day  I  called  up  and  suggested  to  Orlean 
that  I  bring  a  doctor  and  leave  her  in  his  charge 
for  I  must  return  to  Dakota.  She  consented  and  I 
went  to  a  young  negro  doctor  on  State  street  and 
took  him  to  the  house,  but  when  we  arrived,  Ethel 
would  not  admit  us.  The  doctor  and  I  had  roomed 
together  before  I  left  Chicago,  while  he  was  attending 
the  Northwestern  Medical  School,  and  we  had  always 
been  good  friends.  He  had  been  enthusiastic  over 
my  success  in  the  west  and  it  made  me  feel  dread 
fully  embarrassed  when  we  were  refused  admittance. 
When  I  called  up  the  house  later  Ethel  came  to  the 
phone,  and  said: 


278  The    Conquest 

"How  dare  you  bring  a  'nigger  doctor'  to  our 
house?  Why,  papa  has  never  had  a  negro  doctor 
in  his  house.  Dr.  Bryant  is  our  doctor. v 

Dr.  Bryant,  a  white  doctor,  is  said  to  have  the 
biggest  practice  among  colored  people,  of  any  phy 
sician.  That  recalled  to  my  mind  some  of  the 
elder's  declarations  of  a  short  time  before.  He  had 
said  on  more  than  one  occasion: 

"  I  am  sacrificing  my  life  for  this  race,"  and  would 
appear  much  affected. 

After  I  returned  home,  my  wife  began  writing 
nice  letters,  and  so  did  Claves,  who  had  done  all  a 
hen-pecked  husband  could  do  to  help  my  wife  and 
me.  He  wrote  letters  from  the  heart,  declaring  his 
intention  to  be  more  than  a  friend.  He  would  be 
a  brother.  I  received  a  letter  from  him,  which 
read: 

Chicago,  111.,  May  30,  19—. 
DEAR  FRIEND  DEVEREAUX: 

Your  kind  and  welcome  letter  was  received  a  few  days  ago 
and  the  reason  you  did  not  receive  my  last  letter  sooner  was 
because  I  left  it  for  Ethel  to  mail,  and  she  didn't  do  so.  I  am 
glad  to  hear  you  are  getting  your  flax  in  good  shape,  and  the 
prospects  are  fair  for  a  good  crop,  and  now  I  will  tell  you  about 
Orlean.  She  seems  happier  of  late  than  she  has  been  at  any 
time  since  she  came  home.  Now,  I  don't  know  how  you  will 
feel,  but  I  know  it  relieves  my  conscience,  when  I  say  that  your 
wife  loves  you,  and  talks  of  you — to  me — all  the  time. 

Those  papers  and  pamphlets  you  sent  telling  all  about  the 
display  Nicholson  brothers  had  on  at  the  Omaha  land  show. 
She  had  opened  it  and  when  I  came  home  she  told  me  she  could 
not  wait  because  she  was  so  anxious  to  hear  about  the  Little 
Crow.  She  told  me  that  Nicholson  brothers  were  your  best 
friends.  I  imagine  they  must  be  smart  fellows  for  every  paper 
in  the  batch  you  sent  me  had  something  about  them  in  it. 
She  took  the  money  you  sent  her  and  bought  some  shoes  and 


The    Conquest  279 

had  some  pictures  made,  so  as  to  send  you  one.  Mrs.  Warner 
was  over  the  next  day,  and  said;  "Where  did  you  get  the 
shoes?"  and  she  answered,  "My  husband  sent  them  to  me." 

Now,  I  hope  you  will  not  worry  because  she  told  me  as 
soon  as  she  was  well  enough  she  was  going  back  to  Dakota, 
and  as  for  me,  I  intend  to  be  more  than  a  friend  to  you.  I'm 
going  to  be  a  brother. 

From  your  dear  friend, 

E.  M.  CLAVES. 

My  wife  had  written  at  the  same  time  and  used 
many  "we"  and  "ours"  in  her  letter,  and  I  felt 
the  trouble  would  soon  be  over  and  she  would  be 
at  home. 

That  was  the  last  letter  I  received  from  Claves, 
and  when  I  heard  from  my  wife  again,  it  was  al 
together  different.  Instead  of  an  endearing  epistle, 
it  was  one  of  accusation,  downright  abusive.  I  made 
no  complaint,  nor  did  I  write  to  Claves  to  inquire 
why  he  had  ceased  writing.  I  had  always  judged 
people  by  their  convictions  and  in  this  I  knew  the 
cause. 


280  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE  MENNONITES 

URING  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  Menno  Simons  founded  a  de 
nomination  of  Christians  in  Friesland, 
a  province  of  the  Netherlands.  Many 
of  these  Mennonites  settled  in  Northern  Germany. 
This  religious  belief  was  opposed  to  military  service 
and  about  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution 
the  Mennonites  began  emigrating,  until  more  than 
fifty  thousand  of  their  number  had  found  homes 
west  of  the  Dneiper,  near  the  Black  Sea,  in  Southern 
Russia,  around  Odessa.  These  people  were  fa 
natical  in  their  belief,  rejected  infant  baptism  and 
original  sin,  believing  in  baptism  only  on  profession 
of  faith,  and  were  opposed  to  theological  training. 

In  Russia,  as  in  Germany,  they  led  lives  of  great 
simplicity,  both  secularly  and  religiously  and  lived 
in  separate  communities. 

The  gently  rolling  lands,  with  a  rich  soil,  responded 
readily  to  cultivation,  and  history  proves  the  Ger 
mans  always  to  have  been  good  farmers.  The 
Mennonites  found  peace  and  prosperity  in  southern 
Russia,  until  the  Crimean  war.  Being  opposed  to 
military  service,  when  Russia  began  levying  heavy 
taxes  on  their  lands  and  heavier  toll  from  their 
families,  by  taking  the  strong  young  men  to  carry 
on  the  war,  the  Mennonites  became  dissatisfied  under 
the  Russian  government,  and  left  the  country  in 
great  numbers,  removing  to  America,  and  settling 
along  the  Jim  river  in  South  Dakota. 


The    Conquest  281 

Among  these  settlers  was  a  family  by  the  name  of 
Wesinberger,  who  had  grown  prosperous,  their 
forefathers  having  gone  to  Russia  among  the  first, 
although  they  were  not  Mennonites.  Christopher 
the  youngest  son,  was  among  those  drawn  to  go  to 
the  war,  but  the  Wesinbergers  were  properous,  and 
paid  the  examining  physician  twelve  hundred  and 
fifty  rubles  (about  one  thousand  dollars)  to  have 
Christopher  "made  sick"  and  pronounced  unfit 
for  service.  With  the  approach  of  the  Russian- 
Japanese  War,  when  it  was  seen  that  Russia  would 
be  forced  into  war  with  Japan,  the  boys  having 
married,  and  with  sons  of  their  own,  who  would 
have  to  "draw,"  the  Wesinberger  brothers  sold 
their  land  and  set  sail  for  America.  At  the  time  the 
war  broke  out,  John  and  Jacob  were  living  on  home 
steads,  in  the  county  adjoining  Tipp  county  on  the 
north,  Christopher  having  settled  in  western  Canada. 

It  was  while  they  were  breaking  prairie  near  my 
sister's  homestead,  that  I  became  acquainted  with 
the  former,  who,  at  that  time  owned  a  hundred  and 
fifty  head  of  cattle,  seventy-five  head  of  horses, 
hogs,  and  all  kinds  of  farm  machinery,  besides  a 
steam  prairie  breaking  outfit  and  fifteen  hundred 
acres  of  land  between  them. 

During  rainy  days  along  in  April,  to  pass  the  time 
away,  I  would  visit  them,  and  while  sitting  by  the 
camp  fire  was  told  of  what  I  have  written  above,  but 
where  they  interested  me  most  was  when  they  dis 
cussed  astronomy  and  meteorology.  They  could 
give  the  most  complete  description  of  the  zodiacal 
heavens  and  the  different  constellations.  It  seems 
that  astronomy  had  interested  their  ancestors 


282  TheConquest 

before  leaving  Germany  nearly  one  hundred  and 
thirty  years  before,  and  it  had  been  taught  to  each 
succeeding  generation.  They  seemed  to  know  the 
position  of  each  planet,  and  on  several  occasions 
when  the  nights  were  clear,  with  a  powerful  tele 
scope,  they  would  try  to  show  them  to  me,  but  as  I 
knew  little  or  nothing  of  astronomy,  I  understood 
but  little  of  their  discussions  concerning  the  helio 
centric  longitude  of  all  the  planets,  or  the  points 
at  which  they  would  appear  if  seen  from  the  sun. 

Before  many  months  rolled  around  I  had  good 
reason  to  believe  at  least  a  part  of  what  they  tried 
to  explain  to  me,  and  that  was,  that  according  to 
the  planets  we  were  nearing  a  certain  Jupiter  dis 
turbance. 

"And  what  does  that  mean?"  I  asked. 

"That  means,"  they  explained,  "It  will  be  dry." 

"Jupiter"  said  John,  as  he  leisurely  rolled  a 
cigarette,  "circumnavigates  the  sun  once  while 
the  earth  goes  around  it  twelve  times.  In  Russia 
Jupiter's  position  got  between  the  sun  and  the  con 
stellation  Pisces,  Aries,  Taurus  and  Gemini,  it 
was  invariably  wet  and  cool  and  small  grain  crops 
were  good,  but  as  it  passed  on  and  got  between  the 
sun  and  the  constellations  Libra  and  Scorpio  it  was 
always  followed  by  a  minimum  of  rainfall  and  a 
maximum  heat,  which  caused  a  severe  drouth." 

They  had  hoped  it  would  be  different  in  America, 
but  explained  further  that  when  they  had  lived  in 
Russia  it  commenced  to  get  dry  around  St.  Peters 
burg,  Warsaw  and  all  northern  Russia  a  year  or  so 
before  it  did  in  southern  Russia. 

They   had   relatives   living   around    Menno,    in 


TheConquest  283 

Hutchinson  County,  South  Dakota,  who  had  wit 
nessed  the  disastrous  drouth  during  Cleveland's 
administration.  Jupiter  was  nearing  the  position 
it  had  then  occupied  and  would,  in  sixty  days,  be 
at  the  same  position  it  had  been  at  that  time. 

While  few  people  pay  any  attention  to  weather 
"dopsters,"  I  did  a  little  thinking  and  remembered 
it  had  been  dry  in  southern  Illinois  at  that  time,  and 
I  began  to  feel  somewhat  uneasy.  According  to 
their  knowledge,  if  the  same  in  southern  America 
as  it  had  been  in  southern  Russia,  it  would  begin 
to  get  dry  about  a  year  before  the  worst  drouth, 
then  a  very  dry  year,  the  third  year  would  begin 
to  improve,  and  after  the  fourth  year  conditions 
would  again  become  normal,  but  the  concensus 
of  their  opinion  was  there  would  be  a  drouth. 


284  The    Conquest 

CHAPTER  XLI 

THE  DROUTH 

CLOUDY  and  threatening  day  in  May, 
there  came  an  inch  of  rainfall.  I  had 
completed  sowing  two  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  of  flax  a  few  days  before,  and  soon 
everything  looked  beautiful  and  green.  I  felt 
extremely  hopeful. 

During  the  six  years  I  had  been  farming  in 
Dakota,  I  had  raised  from  fair  to  good  crops  every 
year.  The  seasons  had  been  favorable,  and  if  a 
good  crop  had  not  been  raised,  it  was  not  the  fault 
of  the  soil  or  from  lack  of  rainfall.  The  previous 
year  had  not  been  as  wet  as  others,  but  I  had  raised 
a  fair  crop,  and  at  this  time  had  four  hundred  and 
ten  acres  in  crop  and  one  hundred  and  ten  acres 
rented  out,  from  which  I  was  to  receive  one  third 
of  the  crop.  I  had  come  west  with  hopes  of  better 
ing  my  financial  condition  and  had  succeeded  fairly 
well. 

Around  me  at  this  time  others  had  grown  pros 
perous,  land  had  advanced  until  some  land  adjoining 
Megory  had  brought  one  hundred  dollars  per 
acre,  and  land  a  few  miles  from  town  sold  for  fifty 
to  eighty  dollars  per  acre. 

Before  settling  in  the  west  I  had  read  in  real 
estate  advertisements  all  about  the  wheat  land  that 
could  be  bought  from  ten  to  twenty-five  dollars 
per  acre,  that  would  raise  from  twenty-five  to  forty 
bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre.  While  all  this  was 
quite  possible  I  had  never  raised  over  twenty-five 


The    Conquest  285 

bushels  per  acre,  and  mostly  harvested  from  ten 
to  twenty.  I  had  wondered,  before  I  left  Chicago, 
how,  at  a  yield  of  thirty  bushels  per  acre  (and  for 
the  last  seven  or  eight  years  prices  had  ranged  from 
seventy  cents  to  one  dollar  per  bushel  for  wheat) 
the  farmers  could  spend  all  the  money.  Of  course, 
I  had  learned,  in  six  years,  that  twenty-five  to  forty 
or  fifty  bushels  per  acre,  while  possible,  was  far  from 
probable,  and  considerably  above  the  average. 

The  average  yield  for  all  wheat  riased  in  the 
United  States  is  about  fourteen  bushels  per  acre, 
but  crops  had  averaged  from  fair  to  good  all  over 
the  northwest  for  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  with 
some  exceptions,  and  the  question  I  had  heard  asked 
years  before,  "Will  the  drouth  come  again,"  was 
about  forgotten. 

During  the  three  years  previous  to  this  time,  poor 
people  from  the  east,  and  around  Megory  and  Calias 
as  well,  who  were  not  able  to  pay  the  prices  de 
manded  for  relinquishments  and  deeded  lands  in 
Megory,  Tipp  county,  or  the  eastern  states,  had 
flocked  by  thousands  to  the  western  part  of  the 
state  and  taken  free  homesteads.  At  the  beginning 
of  this,  my  seventh  season  in  Dakota,  the  agricul 
tural  report  showed  an  exceedingly  large  number  of 
acres  had  been  seeded,  and  the  same  report  which 
was  issued  June  eighth,  reported  the  condition  of  all 
growing  crops  to  be  up  to  the  ten-year  average  and 
some  above. 

It  was  on  Sunday.  I  had  quit  breaking  prairie 
on  account  of  the  ground  being  too  dry,  and  while 
going  along  the  road,  I  noticed  a  field  of  spelt  that 
looked  peculiar.  Going  into  the  field,  I  dug  my 


286  The    Conquest 

fingers  into  the  soil,  and  found  it  dry.  I  could  not 
understand  how  it  had  dried  out  so  quickly;  but 
thinking  it  would  rain  again  in  a  few  days,  it  had 
been  but  ten  days  since  the  rain,  I  thought  no  more 
about  it.  The  following  week,  although  it  clouded 
up  and  appeared  very  threatening,  the  clouds  passed 
and  no  rain  fell.  On  Saturday  I  drove  into  Kitten, 
and  on  the  way  again  noticed  the  peculiar  appearance 
of  the  growing  plants.  It  was  the  topic  of  discus 
sion  in  the  town,  but  no  one  seemed  willing  to  admit 
that  it  was  from  the  lack  of  moisture.  The  weather 
had  been  very  hot  all  week  and  the  wind  seemed  to 
blow  continually  from  the  south. 

In  past  years,  after  about  two  days  of  south 
winds,  we  were  almost  sure  to  have  rain.  The  fact 
that  the  wind  had  blown  from  the  south  for  nearly 
two  weeks  and  no  rain  had  fallen  caused  everybody 
to  be  anxious.  That  night  was  cloudy,  the  thunder 
and  lightning  lasted  for  nearly  two  hours,  but  when 
I  went  to  the  door,  I  could  see  the  stars,  and  the 
next  day  the  heat  was  most  intense. 

The  Wesinbergers  had  said  the  heavens  would 
be  ablaze  with  lightning  and  resound  with  peals 
of  thunder  but  that  they  were  only  solstice  storms, 
coming  up  in  unusual  directions,  and  that  such 
storms  were  characteristic  of  a  dry  season.  Further 
more,  that  heavy,  abnormal  rains  would  occur  in 
scattered  localities,  at  the  same  time,  but  they 
would  be  few  and  far  apart. 

June  fifteenth  I  took  my  sister  to  Victor  to  make 
proof  on  her  homestead,  and  from  there  drove  to 
Megory,  stopping  in  Calias  to  send  my  wife  a  tele 
gram  to  the  effect  that  I  felt  I  was  going  to  be  sick 


TheConquest  287 

and  for  her  to  draw  a  draft  on  the  Bank  of  Calias, 
and  come  home.  The  telegram  was  not  answered. 

Next  morning  my  sister  left  for  Kansas,  and  that 
afternoon  a  heavy  downpour  of  rain  fell  all  over 
Megory  county  and  as  far  west  as  Victor,  but  north 
of  Kitten,  where  I  had  my  flax  crop,  there  was 
scarcely  sufficient  rain  to  lay  the  dust.  On  that  day 
the  hot  winds  set  in  and  lasted  for  seven  weeks,  the 
wind  blowing  steadily  from  the  south  all  the  while. 

I  had  never  before,  during  the  seven  years, 
suffered  to  any  extent  from  the  heat,  but  during 
that  time  I  could  not  find  a  cool  place.  The  wind 
never  ceased  during  the  night,  but  sounded  its 
mournful  tune  without  a  pause.  Then  came  a 
day  when  the  small  grain  in  Tipp  county  was  beyond 
redemption,  and  rattled  as  leaves  in  November. 
The  atmosphere  became  stifling,  and  the  scent  of 
burning  plants  sickening. 

My  flax  on  the  sod,  which  was  too  small  to  be 
hurt  at  the  beginning  of  the  drouth,  began  to  need 
rain,  and  reports  in  all  daily  papers  told  that  the  great 
heat  wave  and  the  drouth  in  many  places  were 
worse  than  in  Tipp  county.  All  over  the  western 
and  northern  part  of  the  state,  were  localities  where 
it  had  not  rained  that  season.  Potatoes,  wheat, 
oats,  flax,  and  corn,  in  the  western  part  of  the  state, 
had  not  sprouted,  and,  it  was  said,  in  a  part  of  Butte 
county,  where  seed  had  been  sown  four  inches  deep 
the  year  before,  there  had  not  been  enough  rain 
since  to  make  it  sprout. 

The  government  had  spent  several  million  dollars 
damming  the  Belle  Fourche  river  for  the  purpose  of 
irrigation,  and  the  previous  autumn,  when  it  had 


288  The    Conquest 

been  completed,  the  water  in  it  had  been  run  onto 
the  land,  to  see  how  it  would  work,  and  since  had 
been  dry.  No  snow  had  fallen  in  the  mountains 
during  the  winter,  and  all  the  rivers  were  as  dry  as 
the  roads;  while  all  the  way  from  the  gulf,  to 
Canada,  the  now  protracted  drouth  was  burning 
everything  in  its  wake. 

At  Kansas  City,  where  the  treacherous  Kaw 
empties  its  waters  into  the  Missouri,  and  had  for 
years  wrought  disaster  with  its  notorious  floods, 
drowning  out  two  and  sometimes  three  crops  in  a 
single  spring,  was  nearly  dry,  and  the  crops  were 
drying  up  throughout  its  valley. 

I  spent  the  Fourth  of  July  in  Victor,  where  the 
people  shook  their  heads  gravely  and  said,  "Tipp 
county  will  never  raise  a  crop."  The  crops  had 
dried  up  in  Tipp  county  the  year  before.  I  read 
that  the  railroad  men  who  run  from  Kansas  City 
to  Dodge  City  reported  that  the  pastures  through 
Kansas  were  so  dry  along  the  route,  that  a  louse 
could  be  seen  crawling  a  half  mile  away.  In  parts 
of  Iowa  the  farmers  commenced  to  put  their  stock 
in  pens  and  fed  them  hay  from  about  the  middle 
of  June,  there  being  no  feed  in  the  pastures. 
Through  eastern  Nebraska,  western  Iowa  and  south 
ern  Minnesota,  the  grasshoppers  began  to  appear 
by  the  millions,  and  proceeded  to  head  the  small 
grain.  To  save  it,  the  farmers  cut  and  fed  it  to 
stock,  in  pens. 

The  markets  were  being  over-run  with  thin  cattle 
from  the  western  ranges,  where  the  grass  had  never 
started  on  account  of  lack  of  moisture.  I  watched 
my  flax  crop  and  early  in  July  noticed  it  beginning 


The    Conquest  289 

to  wilt,  then  millions  of  army  worms  began  cutting 
it  down.  On  the  eleventh  I  left  for  Megory 
county,  with  my  stock,  to  harvest  the  winter  wheat 
there.  It  had  been  partially  saved  by  the  rain  in 
June.  The  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres  of 
flax  was  a  brown,  sickly-looking  mess,  and  I  was 
badly  discouraged,  for  outside  of  my  family  trouble, 
I  had  borrowed  my  limit  at  the  bank,  and  the  flax 
seed,  breaking,  and  other  expenses,  had  amounted 
to  eleven  hundred  dollars. 

About  this  time  the  settlers  all  over  the  western 
highlands  began  to  desert  their  claims.  Newspapers 
reported  Oklahoma  burned  to  a  crisp,  and  Kansas 
scorched,  from  Kansas  City  to  the  Colorado  line. 
Homesteaders  to  the  north  and  west  of  us  began 
passing  through  the  county,  and  their  appearance 
presented  a  contrast  to  that  of  a  few  years  before. 
Fine  horses  that  marched  bravely  to  the  land  of 
promise,  drawing  a  prairie  schooner,  were  returning 
east  with  heads  hanging  low  from  long,  stringy 
necks,  while  their  alkalied  hoofs  beat  a  slow  tattoo, 
as  they  wearily  dragged  along,  drawing,  in  many 
cases,  a  dilapidated  wagon  over  which  was  stretched 
a  tattered  tarpaulin;  while  others  drew  rickety 
hacks  or  spring  wagons,  with  dirty  bedding  and 
filthy  looking  utensils.  These  people  had  not  made 
a  dollar  in  the  two  years  spent  on  their  homesteads. 
At  Pierre,  it  was  said,  seven  hundred  crossed  the 
the  Missouri  in  a  single  day,  headed  east;  while 
in  the  settlements  they  had  left,  the  few  remaining 
settlers  went  from  one  truck  patch  to  another, 
digging  up  the  potatoes  that  had  been  planted  in 
the  spring,  for  food. 
19 


290  The    Conquest 

One  day  I  crossed  the  White  river  and  went  to 
visit  the  Wisenbergers,  who  lived  seventeen  miles 
to  the  north.  On  the  way,  out  of  forty-seven 
houses  I  passed,  only  one  had  an  occupant.  The 
land  in  that  county  is  underlaid  with  a  hardpan 
about  four  inches  from  the  surface,  and  had  not 
raised  a  crop  for  two  years.  The  settlers  had  left 
the  country  to  keep  from  starving.  As  I  drove 
along  the  dusty  road  and  gazed  into  the  empty 
houses  through  the  front  doors  that  banged  to  and 
fro  with  a  monotonous  tone,  from  the  force  of  the 
hot  south  winds,  I  felt  lonely  and  faraway;  the  only 
living  thing  in  sight  being  an  occasional  dog  that 
had  not  left  with  his  master,  or  had  returned,  but 
on  seeing  me,  ran,  with  tucked  tail,  like  a  frightened 
coyote. 

Merchants  were  being  pressed  by  the  wholesale 
houses.  The  recent  years  had  been  prosperous, 
and  it  is  said  prosperity  breeds  contempt  and  reck 
lessness.  The  townspeople  and  many  farmers  had 
indulged  lavishly  in  chug-chug  cars.  Bankers  and 
wholesale  houses,  who  had  always  criticised  so  much 
automobilism,  were  now  making  some  wish  they  had 
never  heard  the  exhaust  of  a  motor.  In  addition 
to  this  the  speculators  were  loaded  to  the  guards, 
with  lands  carrying  as  heavy  mortgage  as  could 
be  had — which  was  large — for  prosperity  had  caused 
loan  companies  to  increase  the  amount  of  their  loans. 
No  one  wanted  to  buy.  Every  one  wanted  to  sell. 
The  echo  of  the  drouth  seventeen  years  before  and 
the  disaster  which  followed,  rang  through  the 
country  and  had  the  effect  of  causing  prices  to  slump 
from  five  to  fifteen  dollars  per  acre  less  than  a  year 
before. 


The    Conquest  291 

Now  what  made  it  worse  for  Tipp  county  was, 
that  it  had  been  opened  when  prosperity  was  at  its 
zenith.  The  people  were  money  mad.  Reckless 
from  the  prosperity  which  had  caused  them  to  dis 
pense  with  caution  and  good  judgment,  they  were 
brought  suddenly  to  a  realization  of  a  changed 
condition.  The  new  settlers,  all  from  eastern  points, 
came  into  Tipp  county,  seeing  Tipp  county  claims 
worth,  not  six  dollars  per  acre,  the  price  charged  by 
the  Government,  but  finding  ready  sales  at  prices 
ranging  from  twenty-five  to  forty-five  dollars,  and 
even  fifty  dollars  per  acre.  They  had  spent  money 
accordingly.  And  now,  when  the  parched  fields 
frowned,  and  old  Jupiter  Pluvius  refused  to  speak, 

the  community  faced  a  genuine  panic. 

******** 

Came  a  day,  sultry  and  stifling  with  excessive 
heat,  when  I  drove  back  to  the  claims.  Everywhere 
along  the  way  were  visible  the  effects  of  the  drouth. 
Vegetation  had  withered,  and  the  trails  gave  forth 
clouds  of  dust. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  clouds  appeared  in  the  north 
west  and  the  earth  trembled  with  the  resounding 
peals  of  thunder.  The  lightning  played  danger 
ously  near,  and  then,  like  the  artillery  of  a  mighty 
battle,  the  storm  broke  loose  and  the  rain  fell  in 
torrents,  filling  the  draws  and  ravines,  and  over 
flowing  the  creeks,  which  ran  for  days  after.  All 
over  the  north  country  the  drouth  was  broken  and 
plant  life  began  anew. 

My  wheat  threshed  about  eight  hundred  bushels, 
and  when  marketed,  the  money  received  was  not 
sufficient  to  pay  current  expenses.  Therefore,  I 


292  TheConquest 

could  not  afford  the  outlay  of  another  trip  to  Chi 
cago,  but  wrote  many  letters  to  Orlean,  imploring 
her  to  return,  but  all  in  vain. 

During  the  summer  I  had  received  many  letters 
from  people  in  Chicago  and  southern  Illinois,  de 
nouncing  the  action  of  the  Elder,  in  preventing  my 
wife  from  returning  home.  The  contents  or  these 
letters  referred  to  the  matter  as  an  infamous  out 
rage,  and  sympathized  with  me,  by  hoping  my  wife 
would  have  courage  to  stand  up  for  the  right.  I 
rather  anticipated,  that  with  so  much  criticism  of 
his  action  by  the  people  belonging  to  the  churches 
in  his  circuit,  he  would  relent  and  let  her  return 
home;  but  he  remained  obstinate,  the  months 
continued  to  roll  by,  and  my  wife  stayed  on. 

I  had  not  written  her  concerning  the  drouth, 
which  had  so  badly  impaired  crops.  I  knew  her 
people  read  all  the  letters  she  received,  and  felt  that 
with  the  knowledge  in  their  possession  that  my  crop 
had  been  cut  short,  along  with  the  rest,  would  not 
help  my  standing.  They  would  be  sure  to  say  to 
her,  "  I  told  you  so."  The  last  letter  that  I  received 
from  my  wife,  that  year,  was  written  early  in  the 
fall,  in  answer  to  a  letter  that  I  wrote  her,  and  in 
which  I  had  sent  her  some  money,  with  which  to 
buy  some  things  for  my  grandmother.  When 
Orlean  had  been  in  Dakota,  she  had  been  very 
fond  of  my  grandmother,  and  had  asked  about  her 
in  every  letter,  whether  the  letter  was  kind  or  abu 
sive,  as  regarded  me.  My  wife's  letter,  stated  that 
she  had  received  the  money,  and  thanked  me  also 
stated  that  she  would  get  the  things  for  "Grandma" 
that  day.  Neither  grandmother  or  I  received  the 
things. 


The    Conquest  293 

I  was  so  wrought  up  over  it  all,  yet  saw  no  place 
where  I  could  get  justice.  In  order  to  show  the 
Reverend  that  he  was  being  criticized  by  friends  of 
the  family,  I  gathered  up  some  half  dozen  or  more 
letters,  including  the  last  one  from  Claves  and  one 
from  Mrs.  Ewis,  and  sent  them  to  him.  The  one 
from  Mrs.  Ewis  related  how  he  had  written  to  her, 
just  before  he  took  my  wife  away,  saying  that  she 
was  in  dire  need,  and  wanted  to  borrow  twenty- 
five  dollars  to  bring  her  home.  Needless  to  say, 
she  had  not  sent  it,  nor  assisted  him  in  any  other 
way,  in  helping  to  break  up  the  home.  As  a  result, 
she  said,  he  had  not  spoken  to  her  since. 

I  learned  later  that  the  letters  I  had  sent  had 
made  him  terribly  angry.  I  received  a  letter  from 
him,  the  contents  of  which  were  about  the  same  as 
his  conversation  had  been,  excepting,  that  he  did 
not  profess  any  love  for  me,  which  at  least  was  a 
relief;  but,  from  the  contents,  I  derived  that  he  had 
expected  his  act  to  give  him  immortality,  and 
expressed  surprise  that  he  should  be  criticized  for 
coming  to  Dakota  and  saving  the  life  of  his  child — 
as  he  put  it — from  the  heartless  man,  that  was 
killing  her  in  his  efforts  to  get  rich. 

He  seemed  to  forget  to  mention  any  of  the  facts 
which  had  occurred  during  his  last  trip,  namely; 
his  many  declarations  of  undying  love  for  us;  of 
how  glad  he  was  that  we  were  doing  so  much  toward 
the  development  of  the  great  west;  and  his  remarks 
that  if  he  was  twenty-five  years  younger  it  was 
where  he  would  be.  He  also  suggested  that  he 
would  try  to  be  transferred  to  the  Omaha  District, 
so  that  he  might  be  nearer  us. 


294  TheConquest 

CHAPTER  XLII 

A  YEAR  OF  COINCIDENCES 


ILTHOUGH  the  drouth  had  been  broken 
all  over  the  north,  it  lingered  on,  to  the 
south.  My  parents  wrote  me  from 
Kansas,  that  thousands  of  acres  of 
wheat,  sown  early  in  the  fall,  had  failed  to  sprout. 
It  had  been  so  dry.  The  ground  was  as  dry  as 
powder,  and  the  winds  were  blowing  the  grain  out 
of  the  sandy  soil,  which  was  drifting  in  great  piles 
along  the  fences  and  in  the  road. 

The  government's  final  estimated  yield  of  all 
crops  was  the  smallest  it  had  been  for  ten  years. 
As  a  result,  loan  companies  who  had  allowed  in 
terest  to  accumulate  for  one  and  two  years,  in  the 
hope  that  the  farmers  and  other  investors  would 
be  able  to  sell,  such  having  been  the  conditions  of 
the  past,  now  began  to  threaten  foreclosure  and 
money  became  hard  to  get. 

From  the  south  came  reports  that  many  coun 
ties  in  Oklahoma,  that  were  loaded  with  debt,  had 
defaulted  for  two  years  on  the  interest,  and  County 
warrants,  that  had  always  brought  a  premium,  sold 
at  a  discount. 

The  rain  that  had  followed  the  drouth,  in  the 
north,  as  the  winter  months  set  in,  began  to  move 
south,  and  about  Christmas  came  the  heaviest 
snows  the  south  had  known  for  years.  With  the 
snows  came  low  temperatures  that  lasted  for  weeks. 
As  far  south  as  Oklahoma  city,  zero  weather  gripped 
the  country,  and]  to  the  west  the  cattle  left  on 
the  ranges  froze  to  death  by  the  thousands.  A 


The    Conquest  295 

i 

large  part  of  those  that  lived — few  were  fit  for  the 
market,  they  were  so  thin — were  sold  to  eastern 
speculators  at  gift  prices,  due  to  the  fact  that  rough 
feed  was  not  to  be  had. 

The  heavy  snows  that  covered  the  entire  country, 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Atlantic,  and  the 
bitter  cold  weather  that  followed,  made  shipping 
hazardous.  Therefore,  the  rural  districts  suffered 
in  every  way.  Snow  continued  to  fall  and  the  cold 
weather  held  forth,  until  it  was  to  be  seen,  when 
warm  weather  arrived,  the  change  would  be  sudden, 
and  floods  would  result,  such  was  the  case. 

It  was  a  year  of  coincidences;  the  greatest  drouth 
known  for  years,  followed  by  the  coldest  winter 
and  the  heaviest  snows,  and  these  in  turn  by  dis 
astrous  floods,  will  live  long  in  memory. 

To  me  the  days  were  long,  and  the  nights  lonely. 
The  late  fall  rains  kept  my  flax  growing  until  winter 
had  set  in,  and  snow  fell  before  it  was  all  harvested. 
All  I  could  see  of  my  crop  was  little  white  elevations 
over  the  field.  There  was  no  chance  to  get  it 
threshed.  My  capital  had  all  been  exhausted,  and 
it  was  a  dismal  prospect  indeed.  I  used  to  sit  there 
in  my  wife's  lonely  claim-house,  with  nothing  else 
to  occupy  my  mind  but  to  live  over  the  happy 
events  connected  with  our  courtship  and  marriage, 
and  the  sad  events  following  her  departure. 

During  my  life  on  the  Little  Crow,  I  had  looked 
forward  joyfully  to  the  time  when  I  should  be  a 
husband  and  father,  with  a  wife  to  love,  and  a  home 
of  my  own.  This  had  been  so  dominant  in  my  mind, 
that  when  I  thought  it  over,  I  could  not  clearly 
realize  the  present  situation.  I  lived  in  a  sort  of 
stupor  and  my  very  existence  seemed  to  be  a  dread- 


296  The    Conquest 

ful  nightmare.  I  would  at  times  rouse  myself, 
pinch  the  flesh,  and  move  about,  to  see  if  it  was  my 
real  self;  and  would  try  to  shake  off  the  loneliness 
which  completely  enveloped  me.  My  head  ached 
and  my  heart  was  wrung  with  agony. 

I  read  a  strange  story,  but  its  contents  seemed  so 
true  to  life.  It  related  the  incident  of  a  criminal 
who  had  made  an  escape  from  a  prison — not  for 
freedom,  but  to  get  away  for  only  an  hour,  that  he 
might  find  a  cat,  or  a  dog,  or  something,  that  he 
could  love. 

It  seems  he  had  been  an  author,  and  by  chance 
came  upon  a  woman — during  the  time  of  his  escape 
—who  permitted  him  to  love  her,  and  during  the 
short  recess,  to  her  he  recited  a  poem  entitled,  "The 
right  to  love."  The  words  of  that  poem  burned 
in  my  mind. 

"Love  is  only  where  is  reply, 
I  speak,  you  answer;   There  am  I, 
And  that  is  life  everlasting." 

"Love  lives,  to  seek  reply. 
I  speak,  no  answer;   Then  I  die, 
To  seek  reincarnation." 

As  the  cold  days  and  long  nights  passed  slowly 
by,  and  I  cared  for  the  stock  and  held  down  my  wife's 
claim,  the  title  of  that  story  evolved  in  my  mind, 
and  I  would  repeat  it  until  it  seemed  to  drive  me 
near  insanity.  I  sought  consolation  in  hope,  and 
the  winter  days  passed  at  last;  but  I  continued  to 
hope  until  I  had  grown  to  feel  that  when  I  saw  my 
wife  and  called  to  her  name,  she  would  hear  me  and 
see  the  longing  in  my  heart  and  soul;  then  would 
come  the  day  of  redemption. 


The    Conquest  297 

CHAPTER  XLIII 


ME  a  day  when  the  snow  had  disappeared ; 
my  threshing  was  done;  I  had  money 
again,  and  to  Chicago  I  journeyed. 

During  the  winter  I  had  planned  a 
way  to  get  to  see  my  wife,  and  took  the  first  step 
toward  carrying  it  out,  immediately  following  my 
arrival  in  the  city. 

I  went  to  a  telephone  and  called  up  Mrs.  Ewis. 
She  recognized  my  voice  and  knew  what  I  had  come 
for.  She  said :  "I  am  so  glad  I  was  near  the  phone 
when  you  called  up,  because  your  father-in-law  is 
in  the  house  this  very  minute."  On  hearing  this 
I  was  taken  aback,  for  it  had  not  occurred  to  me 
that  he  might  be  in  the  city.  As  the  realization 
that  he  was,  became  clear  to  me,  I  felt  ill  at  ease, 
and  asked  how  he  came  to  be  in  the  city  at  that 
time. 

"Well,"  and  from  her  tone  I  could  see  that  she 
was  also  disturbed — "you  see  tomorrow  is  election 
and  yesterday  was  Easter,  so  he  came  home  to  vote, 
and  be  here  Easter,  at  the  same  time.  Now,  let 
me  think  a  moment,"  she  said  nervously.  Finally 
she  called:  "Oscar,  I  tell  you  what  I  will  do,  P.  H. 
is  sick  and  the  Reverend  has  been  here  every  day 
to  see  him."  Here  she  paused  again,  then  went  on: 
"  I  will  try  to  get  him  to  go  home,  but  he  stays  late. 
However,  you  call  up  in  about  an  hour,  and  if  he 
is  still  here,  I'll  say  'this  is  the  wrong  number,  see?'" 
"Yes,"  I  said  gratefully,  and  hung  up  the  receiver. 


298  TheConquest 

I  had  by  this  time  become  so  nervous  that  I 
trembled,  and  then  went  down  into  Custom  House 
place — I  had  talked  from  the  Polk  Street  station — 
and  took  a  couple  of  drinks  to  try  to  get  steady. 

In  an  hour  and  a  half  I  called  up  again  and  it  was 
the  "wrong  number, "  so  I  went  out  south  and  called 
on  a  young  railroad  man  and  his  wife,  by  the  name 
of  Lilis,  who  were  friends  of  Orlean's  and  mine. 

After  expressing  themselves  as  being  puzzled  as 
to  why  the  Reverend  should  want  to  separate  us, 
Mrs.  Lilis  told  me  of  her.  During  the  conversation 
Mrs.  Lilis  said:  "After  you  left  last  year,  I  went 
over  to  see  Orlean,  and  spoke  at  length  of  you,  of 
how  broken  hearted  you  appeared  to  be,  and  that  she 
should  be  in  Dakota.  Mrs.  McCraline  looked  uncom 
fortable  and  tried  to  change  the  subject,  but  I  said 
my  mind,  and  watched  Orlean.  In  the  meantime 
I  thought  she  would  faint  right  there,  she  looked 
so  miserable  and  unhappy.  She  has  grown  so  fat, 
you  know  she  was  always  so  peaked  before  you 
married  her.  Everybody  is  wondering  how  her 
father  can  be  so  mean,  and  continue  to  keep  her 
from  returning  home  to  you,  but  Mrs.  Ewis  can  and 
will  help  you  get  her  because  she  can  do  more  with 
that  family  than  anyone  else.  She  and  the  Elder 
have  been  such  close  friends  for  the  last  fifteen 
years,  and  she  should  be  able  to  manage  him. 

Then  her  mother  said:  "Oscar,  I  have  known 
you  all  your  life;  I  was  raised  up  with  your  parents; 
knew  all  of  your  uncles;  and  know  your  family 
to  have  always  been  highly  respected;  but  I  can 
not  for  my  life  see,  why,  if  Orlean  loves  you,  she 
lets  her  father  keep  her  away  from  you.  Now  here 


The    Conquest  299 

is  my  Millie,"  she  went  on,  turning  her  eyes  to  her 
daughter,  "and  Belle  too,  why,  I  could  no  more 
separate  them  from  their  husbands  than  I  could 
fly — even  if  I  was  mean  enough  to  want  to." 

"But  why  does  he  do  it,  Mama?  The  Reverend 
wants  to  break  up  the  home  of  Or  lean  and  Oscar/' 
Mrs.  Lilis  put  in,  anxiously. 

"Bless  me,  my  child,"  her  mother  replied,  "I 
have  known  N.  J.  McCraline  for  thirty  years  and 
he  has  been  a  rascal  all  the  while.  I  am  not 
surprised  at  anything  that  he  would  do." 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  Lilis,  with  a  sigh  of  resignation, 
"it  puzzles  me." 

I  then  told  them  about  calling  up  Mrs.  Ewis  and 
what  I  had  planned  on  doing.  It  was  then  about 
nine-thirty.  As  they  had  a  phone,  I  called  Mrs. 
Ewis  again. 

While  talking,  I  had  forgotten  the  signal,  and 
remembered  it  only  when  I  heard  Mrs.  Ewis  calling 
frantically,  from  the  other  end  of  the  wire,  "This 
is  the  wrong  number,  Mister,  this  is  the  wrong 
number."  With  an  exclamation,  I  hung  up  the 
receiver  with  a  jerk. 

Mrs.  Ankin  lived  about  two  blocks  east,  so  I 
went  to  her  house  from  Mrs.  Lilis'.  On  the  street, 
the  effect  of  what  had  passed,  began  to  weaken  me. 
I  was  almost  overcome,  but  finally  arrived  at  Mrs. 
Ankins'.  Just  before  retiring,  at  eleven  o'clock, 
I  again  called  up  Mrs.  Ewis,  and  it  was  still  the 
"wrong  number."  I  went  to  bed  and  spent  a 
restless  night. 

I  awakened  about  five-thirty  from  a  troubled 
sleep,  jumped  up,  dressed,  then  went  out  and  caught 


300  TheConquest 

a  car  for  the  west  side.  I  felt  sure  the  Elder  would 
go  home  during  the  night. 

It  is  always  very  slow  getting  from  the  south  to 
the  west  side  in  Chicago,  on  a  surface  car,  and  it 
was  after  seven  o'clock  when  I  arrived  at  the  ad 
dress,  an  apartment  building,  where  Mrs.  Ewis' 
husband  held  the  position  as  janitor,  and  where 
they  made  their  home,  in  the  basement. 

She  was  just  coming  from  the  grocery  and  greeted 
me  with  a  cheerful  "Good  Morning/'  and  "Do  you 
know  that  rascal  stayed  here  until  twelve  o'clock 
last  night,"  she  laughed.  She  called  him  "rascal" 
as  a  nickname.  She  took  me  into  their  quarters, 
invited  me  to  a  chair,  sat  down,  and  began  to  talk 
in  a  serious  tone.  "Now  Oscar,  I  understand  your 
circumstances  thoroughly,  and  am  going  to  help 
you  and  Orlean  in  every  way  I  can.  You  under 
stand  Rev.  McCraline  has  always  been  hard-headed, 
and  the  class  of  ministers  he  associates  with,  are 
more  hard-headed  still.  The  Elder  has  never  liked 
you  because  of  your  independence,  and  from  the 
fact  that  you  would  not  let  him  rule  your  house  and 
submit  to  his  ruling,  as  Claves  does.  Now  Oscar, 
let  me  give  you  some  advice.  Maybe  you  are  not 
acquainted  with  the  circumstances,  for  if  you  had 
been,  in  the  beginning,  you  might  have  avoided  this 
trouble.  What  I  am  telling  you  is  from  experience, 
and  I  know  it  to  be  true.  Don't  ever  criticize  the 
preachers,  to  their  faces,  especially  the  older  ones. 
They  know  their  views  and  practices,  in  many  in 
stances,  to  be  out  of  keeping  with  good  morals,  but 
they  are  not  going  to  welcome  any  criticism  of  their 
acts.  In  fact,  they  will  crucify  criticism,  and  per- 


The    Conquest  301 

secute  those  who  have  criticized  them.  Further 
more,  you  are  fond  of  Booker  T.  Washington,  and 
his  ideas,  and  Rev.  McCraline,  like  many  other 
negro  preachers,  especially  the  older  ones,  hates 
him  and  everybody  that  openly  approves  of  his 
ideas.  His  family  admire  the  educator,  and  so  do 
I,  but  we  don't  let  on  to  him.  Now  I  have  a  plan 
in  mind,  which  I  feel  a  most  plausible  one,  and  which 
I  believe  will  work  out  best  for  you,  Orlean,  and 
and  myself.  Before  I  mention  it,  I  want  to  speak 
concerning  the  incident  of  last  fall.  When  you  sent 
him  that  bunch  of  letters,  with  mine  in  it,  he  fairly 
raised  cain;  as  a  result,  the  family  quit  speaking 
to  me,  and  Orlean  has  not  been  over  here  for  six 
months,  until  she  and  Ethel  came  a  few  days  before 
Easter,  to  get  the  hats  I  have  always  given  them. 
Now,  she  went  on,  seeming  to  become  excited,  if  I 
should  invite  Orlean  over,  the  Elder  would  come 
along/7  which  I  knew  to  be  true.  "When  you  wrote 
me  last  summer  in  regard  to  taking  her  to  a  summer 
resort,  so  you  could  come  and  get  her,  I  told  Mary 
Arling  about  it.  Now  to  be  candid,  Mrs.  Arling  and 
I  are  not  the  best  of  friends.  You  know  she  drinks 
a  little  too  much,  and  I  don't  like  that,  but  Mary 
Arling  is  a  friend  of  yours,  and  a  smart  woman." 

"Is  that  so?"  I  asked,  showing  interest,  for  I 
admired  Mrs.  Arling  and  her  husband. 

"Yes,"  Mrs.  Ewis  reassured  me,  "she  is  a  friend  of 
yours  and  you  know  all  the  McCraline  family 
admire  the  Arlings,  and  Orlean  goes  there  often/' 
"Well,  as  I  was  saying",  she  went  on,  "last  summer 
out  at  a  picnic,  Mrs.  Arling  got  tipsy  enough  to  speak 
her  mind  and  she  simply  laid  the  family  out  about 


302  The    Conquest 

you.  She  told  the  Reverend  right  to  his  teeth  that 
he  was  a  dirty  rascal,  and  knew  it;  always  had 
been,  and  that  it  was  a  shame  before  God  and  man 
the  way  he  was  treating  you.  Yes,  she  said  it," 
she  reassured  me  when  I  appeared  to  doubt  a  little. 
"And  she  told  me  she  wished  you  had  asked  her  to 
take  Orlean  away;  that  she  would  not  only  have 
taken  her  away  from  Chicago,  but  would  have 
carried  her  on  back  to  Dakota  where  she  wanted 
to  be,  instead  of  worrying  her  life  away  in  Chicago, 
in  fear  of  her  father's  wrath.  So  now,  my  plan  is 
that  you  go  over  to  her  house,  see?  You  know  the 
address." 

I  knew  the  house.  "Well,"  and  she  put  it 
down  on  a  piece  of  paper,  "you  go  over  there,  and  she 
will  help  you;  and  Oscar,  for  God's  sake,  she  im 
plored,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  do  be  careful.  I 
know  Orlean  loves  you  and  you  do  her,  but  the  Rev 
erend  has  it  in  for  you,  and  if  he  learned  you  were  in 
the  city,  Orlean  would  not  be  allowed  to  leave  the 
house.  Now,  she  added,  I  will  get  him  over  here  as 
soon  as  I  can  and  you  do  your  part.  Good-bye." 

I  took  a  roundabout  way  in  getting  back  to  the 
south  side,  keeping  out  of  the  colored  neighborhood 
as  long  as  possible,  by  taking  a  Halsted  street  car 
south,  got  a  transfer,  and  took  a  Thirty-fifth 
street  car. 

I  was  careful  to  avoid  meeting  anyone  who  might 
know  me,  but  who  might  not  be  aware  of  my  pre 
dicament,  and  who  might  thoughtlessly  inform  the 
McCralines. 

I  arrived  at  Mrs.  Arlings  without  meeting  anyone 
who  knew  me,  however.  They  owned  and  occupied 


TheConquest  303 

an  elaborate  flat  at  an  address  in  the  Thirty-seventh 
block  on  Wabash  avenue.  I  rang  the  bell,  which 
was  answered  by  a  young  lady  unknown  to  me,  but 
who,  I  surmised,  roomed  at  the  house.  She  inquired 
the  name,  and  when  I  had  told  her  she  let  out  an  "  0 ! " 
and  invited  me  into  the  parlor.  She  hurried  away 
to  tell  Mrs.  Arling,  who  came  immediately,  and 
holding  both  hands  out  to  me,  said,  "I  am  so  glad 
you  came  at  last,  Oscar,  I  am  so  glad." 

After  we  had  said  a  few  words  concerning  the 
weather,  etc.,  I  said  in  a  serious  tone,  "Mrs.  Arling, 
I  am  being  persecuted  on  account  of  my  ideas." 

"I  know  it,  Oscar,  I  know  it,"  she  repeated,  nod 
ding  her  head  vigorously,  and  appeared  eager. 

I  then  related  briefly  the  events  of  the  past  year, 
including  the  Reverend's  trip  to  Dakota. 

Raising  her  arms  in  a  gesture,  she  said:  "If  you 
remember  the  day  after  you  were  married,  when  we 
had  the  family  and  you  over  to  dinner,  and  you  and 
Richard  (her  husband),  talked  on  race  matters,  that 
the  Elder  never  joined.  Well,  when  you  had  gone 
Richard  said:  "Oscar  and  the  Elder  are  not  going 
to  be  friends  long,  for  their  views  are  too  far  apart." 
When  he  brought  Orlean  home  last  year  I  said  to 
Richard,  'Rev.  McCraline  is  up  to  some  trick." 
Continuing,  she  went  on  to  tell  me,  "You  are  aware 
how  bitter  most  of  the  colored  preachers  are  in  regard 
to  Booker  T.  Washington."  "Yes,"  I  assented. 
"Mrs.  Ewis  and  I  talked  the  matter  over  and  she 
said  the  Reverend  had  it  in  for  you  from  the  begin 
ning,  that  is,  he  wanted  to  crush  your  theories,  and 
have  you  submissive,  like  Ethel's  husband.  He  was 
more  anxious  to  have  you  look  up  to  him  because 


304  TheConquest 

you  had  something;  but  after  he  found  out  you  were 
not  going  to,  well,  this  is  the  result." 

"Now,  Oscar,"  whatever  you  suggest,  if  it  is  in  my 
power  to  do  so,  I  will  carry  it  out,  because  I  am  sure 
Orlean  loves  you.  She  always  seems  so  glad  when  I 
talk  with  her  about  you.  She  comes  over  often," 
she  went  on,  "and  we  get  to  talking  of  you."  Now 
before  I  tell  you  more,  you  must  not  feel  that  she 
does  not  care  for  you,  because  she  allows  her  father 
to  keep  her  away  from  you.  Orlean  is  just  simple, 
babylike  and  is  easy  to  rule.  She  gets  that  from  her 
mother,  for  you  know  Mary  Ann  is  helpless."  I 
nodded,  and  she  continued.  "As  for  the  Reverend, 
he  has  raised  them  to  obey  him,  and  they  do,  to  the 
letter;  the  family,  with  Claves  thrown  in,  fear  him, 
but  as  I  was  going  to  say:  Orlean  told  me  when  I 
asked  her  why  she  did  not  go  on  back  to  you,  'Well/ 
I  don't  know/  You  know  how  she  drags  her  speech. 
'Oscar  loves  me,  and  we  never  had  a  quarrel.  In 
fact,  there  is  nothing  wrong  between  us  and  Oscar 
would  do  anything  to  please  me.  The  only  thing  I 
did  not  like,  was,  that  Oscar  thought  more  of  his 
land  and  money  than  he  did  of  me,  and  I  wanted  to 
be  first/" 

"Isn't  that  deplorable,"  I  put  in,  shaking  my  head 
sadly. 

"Of  course  it  is,"  she  replied  with  a  shrug,  "why, 
that  could  be  settled  in  fifteen  minutes,  if  it  were 
not  for  that  old  preacher.  She  always  likes  to  talk 
of  you  and  it  seems  to  do  her  good." 

"Now,  my  plan  is,"  I  started,  with  a  determined 
expression,  "to  have  you  call  her  up,  see?" 

"Yes,  yes,"  she  answered  anxiously. 


The    Conquest  305 

"And  invite  her  over  on  pretense  of  accompanying 
you  to  a  matinee/' 

"Yes,  yes,"  and  then,  her  face  seemed  to  brighten 
with  an  idea,  and  she  said:  "Why  not  go  to  a  mat 
inee?" 

"Why  yes,"  I  assented.  "I  had  not  thought  of 
that,  then,  "Why  sure,  fine  and  dandy.  We  will 
all  go,  yes,  indeed,"  I  replied,  with  good  cheer. 

She  went  to  the  phone  and  called  up  the  number. 
In  a  few  minutes  she  returned,  wearing  a  jubilant  ex 
pression,  and  cried:  "I've  fixed  it,  she  is  coming 
over  and  we  will  all  go  to  a  matinee.  Won't  it  be 
fine?"  she  continued,  jumping  up  and  down,  and 
clapping  her  hands  joyfully,  beside  herself,  with  en 
thusiasm,  and  I  joined  her. 

Two  hours  later,  Mrs.  Hite — the  young  lady  that 
answered  the  door  when  I  came  that  morning — called 
from  the  look-out,  where  she  had  been  watching 
while  Mrs.  Arling  was  dressing,  and  I,  too  nervous 
to  sit  still,  was  walking  to  and  fro  across  the  room — 
that  Orlean  was  coming.  We  had  been  uneasy  for 
fear  the  Elder  might  hear  of  my  being  in  the  city, 
before  Orlean  got  away.  I  rushed  to  the  window  and 
saw  my  wife  coming  leisurely  along  the  walk,  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  anxious  eyes  watching  her  from  the 
second-story  window.  I  could  see,  at  the  first  glance, 
she  had  grown  fleshy;  she  had  begun  before  she  left 
South  Dakota.  It  was  a  bay  window  and  we 
watched  her  until  she  had  come  up  the  steps  and 
pulled  the  bell. 

Mrs.  Arling  had  told  me  my  wife  did  not  have  any 
gentleman  company.  I  had  not  felt  she  had,  for, 
in  the  first  place,  she  was  not  that  kind  of  a  woman, 
20 


306  TheConquest 

and  if  her  father,  by  his  ways,  discouraged  any  men 
in  coming  to  see  her  while  she  was  single,  he  was  sure 
to  discourage  any  afterward.  But  Mrs.  Arling  had 
added:  "I  told  her  I  was  going  to  get  her  a  beau,  so 
you  get  behind  the  door,  and  when  she  comes  in  I 
will  tell  her  that  I  have  found  the  beau." 

I  obeyed,  and  after  a  little  Orlean  walked  into  the 
room,  smiling  and  catching  her  breath,  from  the 
exertion  of  coming  up  the  steps.  I  stepped  behind 
her  and  covered  her  eyes  with  my  hands.  Mrs. 
Arling  chirped,  "That  is  your  beau,  so  you  see  I 
have  kept  my  word,  and  there  he  is."  I  withdrew 
my  hands  and  my  wife  turned  and  exclaimed  "Oh!" 
and  sank  weakly  into  a  chair. 

We  had  returned  from  the  theatre,  where  we  wit 
nessed  a  character  play  with  a  moral,  A  Romance 
of  the  Under  World.  We  had  tickets  for  an  evening 
performance  to  see  Robert  Mantell  in  Richelieu. 
Mrs.  Arling  ushered  us  into  her  sitting  room,  closed 
the  door,  and  left  us  to  ourselves. 

I  took  my  wife  by  the  hand;  led  her  to  a  rocker; 
sat  down  and  drew  her  down  on  my  knee,  and  began 
with:  "Now,  dear,  let  us  talk  it  over." 

I  knew  about  what  to  expect,  and  was  not  mis 
taken.  She  began  to  tell  me  of  the  "wrongs"  I 
had  done  her,  and  the  like.  I  calculated  this  would 
last  about  an  hour,  then  she  would  begin  to  relent, 
and  she  did.  After  I  had  listened  so  patiently 
without  interrupting  her,  but  before  I  felt  quite 
satisfied,  she  wanted  to  go  to  the  phone  and  call 
up  the  house  to  tell  the  folks  that  I  was  in  town. 

"Don't  do  that,  dear,"  I  implored.  "I  don't 
want  them  to  know,  that  is,  just  yet."  The  reason 


The    Conquest  307 

I  was  uneasy  and  wanted  her  to  wait  awhile  was, 
that  I  felt  her  father  would  go  to  call  on  Mrs.  Ewis 
about  eight  o'clock  and  it  was  now  only  seven.  But 
she  seemed  restless  and  ill  at  ease,  and  persisted 
that  she  should  call  up  mother,  and  let  her  know, 
so  I  consented,  reluctantly.  Then  as  she  was  on 
the  way  to  the  phone  I  called  her  and  said:  "Now, 
Orlean  there  are  two  things  a  woman  cannot  be 
at  the  same  time,  and  that  is,  a  wife  to  her  husband 
and  a  daughter  to  her  father.  She  must  sacrifice 
one  or  the  other." 

"I  know  it/'  she  replied,  and  appeared  to  be  con 
fused  and  hesitant,  but  knowing  she  would  never 
be  at  ease  until  she  had  called  up,  I  said  "Go  ahead," 
and  she  did. 

I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  expression  on  her  face, 
then  the  look  of  weak  appeal  that  she  turned  on  me, 
when  her  father's  deep  voice  rang  through  the  phone 
in  answer  to  her  "Hello."  The  next  instant  she 
appeared  to  sway  and  then  leaned  against  the  wall 
trembling  as  she  answered,  "Oh!  Pa-pa,  ah,"  and 
seeming  to  have  no  control  of  her  voice.  She  now 
appeared  frightened,  while  Mrs.  Arling  and  Mrs. 
Kite  stood  near,  holding  their  breath  and  looked 
discouraged.  She  finally  managed  to  get  it  out, 
but  hardly  above  a  whisper,  "Oscar  is  here." 

"Well,"  he  answered,  and  his  voice  could  be 
heard  distinctly  by  those  standing  near.  "Well," 
he  seemed  to  roar  in  a  commanding  way,  "Why 
don't  you  bring  him  to  the  house?" 

What  passed  after  that  I  do  not  clearly  remember, 
but  I  have  read  lots  of  instances  of  where  people 
lost  their  heads,  where,  if  they  would  have  had 


308  The    Conquest 

presence  of  mind,  they  might  have  saved  their 
army,  won  some  great  victory  or  done  something 
else  as  notorious,  but  in  this  I  may  be  classed  as 
one  of  the  unfortunates  who  simply  lost  his  head. 
That  is  how  it  was  described  later,  but  speaking 
for  myself,  when  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  man  who 
had  secured  my  wife  by  coercion  and  kept  her  away 
from  me  a  year;  which  had  caused  me  to  suffer, 
and  turned  my  existence  into  a  veritable  nightmare, 
the  things  that  passed  through  my  mind  during  the 
few  moments  thereafter  are  sad  to  describe. 

I  heard  his  voice  say  again,  "Why  don't  you 
bring  him  to  the  house?"  But  I  could  only  seem 
to  see  her  being  torn  from  me,  while  he,  a  massive 
brute,  stood  over  lecturing  me,  for  what  he  termed , 
"my  sins,"  but  what  were  merely  the  ideas  of  a 
free  American  citizen.  How  could  I  listen  to  a 
lecture  from  a  person  with  his  reputation.  This 
formed  in  my  mind  and  added  to  the  increasing 
but  suppressed  anger.  I  could  see  other  years 
passing  with  nothing  to  remember  my  wife  by,  but 
the  little  songs  she  had  sung  so  often  while  we  were 
together  in  Dakota. 

"Roses,  roses,  roses  bring  memory  of  you,  dear, 
Roses  so  sweet  and  endearing, 
Roses  with  dew  of  the  morn; 
You  were  fresh  for  a  day  then  you  faded  away. 
Red  roses  bring  memories  of  you." 

The  next  moment  I  had  taken  the  receiver  from 
her  hand,  and  called,  "Hello,  Rev.  McCraline," 
"Hello,  Rev.  McCraline,"  in  a  savage  tone.  When 
he  had  answered,  I  continued  in  a  more  savage 


The    Conquest  309 

voice,  "You  ask  my  wife  why  she  did  not  bring  me 
to  the  house?" 

"Yes,"  he  answered.  His  voice  had  changed 
from  the  commanding  tone,  and  now  appeared  a 
little  solicitous.  "Yes,  why  don't  you  come  to 
the  house?"  I  seemed  to  hear  it  as  an  insult. 
I  did  not  seem  to  understand  what  he  meant, 
although  I  understood  the  words  clearly.  They 
seemed,  however,  to  say;  "Come  to  the  house,  and 
I  will  take  your  wife,  and  then  kick  you  into  the 
street." 

I  answered,  with  anger  burning  my  voice;  "I 
don't  want  to  come  to  your  house,  because  the  last 
time "  I  was  there,  I  was  kicked  out.  Do  you 
hear?  Kicked  out." 

"Well,  I  did  not  do  it."  Now,  I  had  looked  for 
him  to  say  that  very  thing.  I  felt  sure  that  he 
had  put  Ethel  up  to  the  evil  doing  of  a  year  before, 
and  now  claimed  to  know  nothing  about  it,  which 
was  like  him.  It  made  me,  already  crazed  with 
anger,  more  furious,  and  I  screamed  over  the  phone 
"  I  know  you  didn't,  and  I  knew  that  was  what  you 
would  say,  but  I  know  you  left  orders  for  it  to 
be  done." 

"Where  is  Orlean?"  he  put  in,  his  voice  returning 
to  authoritative  tone. 

"She  is  here  with  me,"  I  yelled,  and  hung  the 
receiver  up  viciously. 

It  was  only  then  I  realized  that  Mrs.  Arling  and 
Mrs.  Hite  had  hold  of  each  arm  and  had  been 
shouting  in  my  ears  all  this  while,"  Oscar,  Mr. 
Devereaux,  Oscar,  don't!  don't!  don't!"  and  in  the 
meantime  fear  seemed  to  have  set  my  wife  in  a  state 


310  The    Conquest 

of  terror.  She  now  turned  on  me,  in  tones  that  did 
not  appear  natural.  The  words  I  cannot,  to  this 
day,  believe,  but  I  had  become  calm  and  now  plead 
with  her,  on  my  knees,  and  with  tears;  but  her  eyes 
saw  me  not,  and  her  ears  seemed  deaf  to  entreaty. 
She  raved  like  a  crazy  woman  and  declared  she 
hated  me.  Of  a  sudden,  some  one  rang  the  bell 
viciously,  and  Mrs.  Arling  commanded  me  to  go  up 
the  stairs.  I  retreated  against  my  will.  She 
opened  the  door,  and  in  walked  the  Reverend. 

Orlean  ran  to  him  and  fell  into  his  arms  and  cried : 
"Papa,  I  do  not  know  what  I  would  do  if  it  were 
not  for  you,"  and  kissed  him — she  had  not  kissed 
me.  After  a  pause,  I  went  up  to  him.  As  I  ap 
proached  he  turned  and  looked  at  me,  with  a  dread 
ful  sneer  in  his  face,  which  seemed  to  say,  "So  I 
have  caught  you.  Tried  to  steal  a  march  on  me,  eh?" 
And  the  eyes,  they  were  the  same,  the  eyes  of  a  pig, 
expressionless. 

Feeling  strange,  but  composed,  I  advanced  to 
where  he  stood,  laid  my  hands  upon  his  shoulder, 
looked  into  his  face  and  said  slowly,  "Rev. 
McCraline,  don't  take  my  wife" — paused,  then 
went  on,  "why  could  you  not  leave  us  for  a  day. 
We  were  happy,  not  an  hour  ago."  Here  my 
stare  must  have  burned,  my  look  into  his  face  was 
so  intense,  and  he  looked  away,  but  without 
emotion.  "And  now  I  ask  you,  for  the  sake  of 
humanity,  and  in  justice  to  mankind,  don't  take 
my  wife." 

Not  answering  me,  he  said  to  my  wife:  "Do  you 
want  your  papa?" 

"Yes,  yes,"  she  said  and  leaned  on  him.    Then 


The    Conquest  311 

she  looked  into  his  face  and  said:  "He  insulted 
you/' 

"Yes  yes,  dear,"  he  answered.  "He  has  done 
that  right  along,  but  you  step  outside  and  Papa 
will  tend  to  him," 

She  still  clung  to  him  and  said:  "He  has  made 
you  suffer." 

He  bowed  his  head,  and  feigned  to  suffer.  I 
stood  looking  on  mechanically.  He  repeated,  "Run 
outside,  dear,"  and  he  stood  holding,  the  door  open, 
then,  realization  seemed  to  come  to  her,  she  turned 
and  threw  herself  into  Mrs.  Arling's  arms,  weakly, 
and  broke  into  mournful  sobs.  Her  father  drew 
her  gently  from  the  embrace  and  with  her  face  in 
her  hands,  and  still  sobbing,  she  passed  out.  He 
followed  and  through  the  open  door  I  caught  a 
glimpse  of  C  la  vis  on  the  sidewalk  below,  the  man 
who  had  written — not  a  year  before,  "I  am  going 
to  be  a  brother,  and  help  you." 

The  next  moment  the  door  closed  softly  behind 
them.  That  was  the  last  time  I  saw  my  wife. 

THE  END 


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